


D4 Scooby-Doo! A Haunting at the Ottawa SuperEX!

by wsdsrdbw4096



Series: Dimension Four [6]
Category: Scooby Doo - All Media Types, Scooby Doo Where Are You! (TV 1969)
Genre: Alternate Universe - 1970s, Anachronistic, Bilingual Character(s), Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-23
Updated: 2017-09-28
Packaged: 2018-12-05 17:01:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 11
Words: 22,558
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11582382
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/wsdsrdbw4096/pseuds/wsdsrdbw4096
Summary: Takes place between the events of SDWAY's Seasons 1 and 2. The gang travels to Ottawa, Canada for the city's annual SuperEx. However, the exhibition is interrupted by wax figures coming alive, and while investigating the case, they found help from an air cadet flight sergeant. Please read and review!





	1. The arrival in Ottawa

**Author's note: Here's the next installment of my Dimension Four saga, folks!**

**This story takes place between the events of the bulk of Season 1 of SDWAY and most of Season 2 of SDWAY.**

**One thing to note is that I have the events of the Season 2 episode _Mystery Mask Mix-Up_ placed as being before this story to coincide with Chinese New Year in 1970, whereas the events of  _Nowhere to Hyde_ , the season premiere of Season 2, takes place after this story.**

**Anyways, in this story, the gang travels up north to Canada for the first time, and it is this story that they first cross paths with my OC Garfield Stephenson Wu.**

**For more information on Garfield Stephenson Wu, please check out his origin story, titled _D4 Garfield and The Secret of the School Library!_**

**As with that story, I want to note that the Garfield in this story is my OC Garfield Stephenson Wu, NOT his namesake: The title character of the comic strip  _Garfield_. This is also the reason why this story isn't placed in the  _Scooby-Doo_  and  _Garfield_ crossover category.**

**I don't own _Scooby-Doo_. Hanna-Barbera Productions and Warner Bros. does.**

* * *

Chapter 1: The arrival in Ottawa

_August 24, 1970_

It was a warm sunny mid-morning as the Canadian Pacific Railway-operated  _Canadian_  transcontinental train from Vancouver speeds down a section of track along the Ottawa River in the Ottawa Valley, near the outskirts of Pembroke, Ontario, as the train continues on with its journey to Montreal with a major stop at the nation's capital.

The passengers on the train were eager to reach their respective destinations, and during the ride, they were also happy to take photos of the beautiful scenery passing by.

Among the passengers were the Mystery Inc. gang, who came a long way from Coolsville, California.

"It sure was swell of Mr. Blake in giving us these extra train tickets, Daphne." Velma remarked. "I've always wanted to visit Canada and learn more about our northern neighbor."

"And Scoob and I have heard that Canadian bacon tastes delicious!" Shaggy added. "If we're lucky, we might get onto a tour to see how they harvest maple syrup."

Daphne laughed. "It sure was a good thing Dad won those tickets, gang."

Earlier this past July, Daphne's father George went on a business trip to Toronto for a conference, during which he had took part in a raffle ticket draw where the winner receives five tickets to travel across the continent from Vancouver to Ottawa on the  _Canadian_ and then take part in the nation capital's annual SuperEX.

By a chance of luck, George happened to win the draw, but due to his busy work at Blake Enterprises, he didn't have the time to go on the train travel.

When George arrived home in Coolsville a few days after the conference, his greeting by Daphne gave him an idea, and some discussions with the other parents soon led him to give the train tickets to the gang.

And that's how exactly the gang find themselves aboard the  _Canadian_ a week after they received the train tickets from George and made the trip arrangements, which includes hotel-booking.

The travel plan devised by the gang was for them to drive northbound on Interstate 5 to the Canadian border, where they then continue on westward to Vancouver on British Columbia Highway 99, which under Canada's Confederation Highway System is Confederation 5.

It was also during the preparations for the trip that the gang arranged for the Mystery Machine to be transported on the train with them, which means that the next morning, upon arriving at the Pacific Central Station in Vancouver following a overnight stay in a hotel, the gang hands the Mystery Machine to a chauffeur.

Once the gang cleared their luggage out of the van, the chauffeur then drives the Mystery Machine to the autorack loading ramp where it, along with a handful of other vehicles, are loaded onto the  _Canadian_ 's autorack cars.

After the passengers were all on board the train, the EMD FP9 diesel locomotive, paired together with an ALCO FA diesel locomotive and hauling the  _Canadian_ streamline train blew its horn as it slowly pulls out of the station.

The trains configuration consists of four diesel locomotives, two of which are at the front and another two in the middle with each pair hauling nine railway cars each.

Each diesel locomotive pair hauls a box-shaped autorack, in addition to a handful of dining cars, luggage cars, passenger cars, sleeper cars and a dome car.

The reason for the configuration was that the  _Canadian_ actually serves two destinations as it travels eastbound: Toronto and Montreal, the latter through the nation's capital.

How the train works is that the current 2-locomotive-9-car-2-locomotive-9-car train departs from Vancouver and travels east, making major stops at Calgary, Regina and Winnipeg along the way. Once the train reaches Sudbury, Ontario, the train splits into two.

The first train then carries on southward to Toronto while the second train, which has its dome car at the rear, carries on eastward to Montreal with a major stop in Ottawa.

The gang was on board the second train with the Mystery Machine on the autorack hauled by the second pair, so on the third day since departure from Vancouver, they spent a longer time at Sudbury Junction Station as they waited for the Toronto-bound first train to depart.

After their train departed from Sudbury Junction, it continued to make major stops along the way, which included North Bay and Mattawa before running along the Ottawa River.

**(For those of you who are familiar with the railway history of Canada, I have a huge question for you:**

**Prior to the 1970s, CP Rail used to operate the _Canadian_ transcontinental passenger rail service between Vancouver and Toronto and Montreal, the latter via Ottawa, a routing that was maintained when VIA Rail took over in 1978 until deep budget cuts in 1990 that resulted in the solo Vancouver-Toronto routing we see today.**

**I do understand for a fact that under that routing when the train arrives at Sudbury, it splits into two with one heading for Toronto while the other continues to Montreal.**

**What I will like to know is that after departing Sudbury, what cities does the _Canadian_ pass or stop by before arriving at Carleton Place and then continuing on to Ottawa?**

**The reason for my asking this question is that I want to write an accurate description of the routing beyond Sudbury the Canadian Pacific-operated _Canadian_ will make for this story, and one thing to note is that this story's universe includes an Ottawa where the Greber Plan of the 1950s left its railways and streetcars alone, so therefore, in this story's setting of 1970, Ottawa Union Station is still running, as with Hull Station across the river with the Alexandria Bridge still carrying both road and rail traffic, and Ottawa's streetcars are still active.**

**In real life, Ottawa Union Station was replaced by the current Ottawa Central Station in 1966, while streetcars were fully replaced by buses in 1959.)**

Eventually, the train stopped at Pembroke, followed by Renfrew and Arnprior before heading southbound.

As the train pulled into Almonte Station, the bilingual announcement came, stating that the train will be arriving at Ottawa Union Station in about an hour.

"Well, gang, it looks like we'll have to get ready to get off the train soon." Fred said after the announcement.

"Yeah." Velma agreed. "It's been a fun railway trip, especially with the trip through the Rockies when we left Vancouver."

"Too bad someone didn't paint the scenery well on the second day." Shaggy said. "Like, all Scoob and I saw were fields and fields and fields."

"Reah." Scooby agreed as he yawned.

"That's because we were travelling through the Canadian Prairies." Velma said, her hand holding a guide book on Canada as she spoke. "It is home to the majority of Canada's agricultural industry."

"Wow." Daphne remarked. "I sure hate to imagine how Freddie might feel if he has to drive through that flat section of the Trans Canada Highway in the Prairies."

Several minutes went by before the train pulled into Carleton Place Station, whose station building is located north of a wye configuration. The track the train is currently on links to the mainline that carries on southwards to Smiths Falls while the curved lines on the wye are linked to the mainline heading northeast to Ottawa.

As Carleton Place is also the location of a railway junction, the train had to wait at the platform for a longer period of time as a freight train passes through on the mainline, heading for Smiths Falls.

Eventually, the train was given the go-ahead and it made its way onto a siding linked to the wye where the train then made the turn and eventually onto the mainline en route to Ottawa.

It was 15:45 when the  _Canadian_ sped on the southeast tracks of the Alexandria Bridge, and not long after entering Ottawa the train started to slow down.

Before long, the train slowly pulled into the platform of Ottawa Union Station as the gang prepared to get off.

Once the gang got off and obtained their luggage, they paused to look around at the bustling railway station.

"Wow." Daphne remarked as they watch the commuters rushing for the trains. "This place sure is busy."

The nearby destination boards detailed a list of trains heading a wide variety of destinations. Kemptville, Prescott, Waltham, Maniwaki, Toronto, Montreal, North Bay, Cornwall and even an international train to New York.

"Like, no kidding Daph." Shaggy agreed. "Watching all these people rushing by makes the Coolsville Central Railway Station seem like a train station serving a town by comparison."

"Anyways, now that we've got our luggage, gang." Fred said as a porter pushes the luggage cart containing their luggage. "We should go get the Mystery Machine."

The porter with their luggage nodded at the remark and then said. "Please follow me."

* * *

After loading their luggage onto the Mystery Machine, during which Shaggy picked up a map of Ottawa along the way, the gang tipped the porter and chauffeur before driving off onto Elgin Street, where they were immediately greeted by a red light and several streetcars passing by.

"I guess we arrived at a rather busy time, gang." Fred remarked as he watched the busy traffic behind the wheel. "I didn't realize that Canadians take their lunch rather seriously."

He then nodded at the clock on the dashboard, which showed 12:55.

"Actually, Freddie." Velma corrected. "It would be rush hour here right now. Ottawa, together with Toronto, Montreal, New York, Boston, Philadelphia and Washington, observes Eastern Standard Time."

"Oh, I must've forgotten to change the time on the clock." Fred said when he realized what Velma was talking about. "It's three hours behind Ottawa's time."

"Anyways, where should we go from here, Freddie?" Velma asked.

"If I can suggest something, I think we should check into our hotel." Shaggy suggested. "Scoob and I are worn out from sitting all day on the train."

"Shaggy's right." Daphne agreed. "We should first check into the hotel and have some rest, then we'll decide where to go for the night."

"Sure thing." Fred nodded. "It's a good thing that the Lord Elgin Hotel is not far from here."

* * *

Not long after checking into the Lord Elgin Hotel, which is located across the Rideau Canal from Ottawa Union Station, the gang spent the rest of the afternoon resting in their hotel rooms.

In the boys' room, Shaggy decided to turn on the television and found himself and Scooby watching a CBC program on classical music while Fred took a rest.

"I never thought that the directions to Interstate 5 from Coolsville could be that complicated." Fred remarked as he laid on his bed.

"Like, no kidding, man." Shaggy agreed. "Especially since Scoob and I have signed up for that October rock festival that requires some driving on Interstate 5. We should probably consult a map for proper directions to Interstate 5 so we won't end up getting lost and, perhaps, end up in some haunted house."

"Sounds like a plan, Shag." Fred nodded.

* * *

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	2. Arriving at the exhibition fair

Chapter 2: Arriving at the exhibition fair

After some rest, the gang regrouped at the hotel lobby.

"So where should we go from here, Freddie?" Daphne asked. "I think we should go sightseeing."

"Hmmm..." Fred thought as he eyed several travel brochures. "Maybe these brochures could give us a clue."

"Perhaps I could be of your service on that, my fine ladies and gentlemen." A voice suddenly said, and the gang jumped before turning, revealing the hotel clerk.

Seeing their reactions, the clerk said, "My apologies. I happened to overhear your conversations and couldn't help but thought that I can help you young folks out."

"Ah, no worries." Velma said. "We pretty much haven't decided where to go from here."

"We just arrived in Ottawa by train from Vancouver." Daphne added.

"Wow." The clerk remarked. "That must've been a long train ride, eh?"

"Like, you can say that again." Shaggy nodded. "Especially during the second day where all you see are fields and fields and fields for the most part."

"I can imagine." The clerk said before introducing himself. "By the way, my name's Bert Clair."

"I'm Fred." Fred introduced himself before gesturing to each in the gang and continued, "And this is Daphne, Velma, Shaggy and Scooby."

"Hello." The others, sans Scooby, all said.

"We're from Coolsville, California." Daphne added as she shook hands with Bert.

"Ah, I see." Bert nodded understandingly. "You folks must've had a long trip from the States."

"Indeed we did." Shaggy nodded as he shook hands with Bert before he moved to Scooby.

"Rowdy Do!" Scooby barked as he offered Bert his paw, surprising him for a brief moment.

"Anyways, you just said that you could help us out on where should we go, Mr. Clair." Velma said, managing to save them from the awkward moment.

"Oh yes, I almost forgot." Bert said. "One place I suggest going is Lansdowne Park in Old Ottawa South for the annual eleven-day SuperEX."

"SuperEX?" Daphne asked. "What is it?"

"It's a major exhibition fair held annually in the park since 1888." Bert said. "There's plenty of fun rides and exhibition stands, in addition to the good food."

"Food?" Shaggy asked before he and Scooby licked their lips. "Like, maybe that's where we should be heading! It's almost dinner time anyways, so maybe we can go and check out the food there."

"Oh, you guys." Velma remarked. "It's always the food that attracts you to a place, huh?"

"You know them, Velma." Fred said before turning to Bert. "Sounds like a good suggestion, though."

"Indeed." Bert nodded. "It's a lot of fun, and there's a good chance you folks can check out the Ottawa Rough Riders in action at the stadium."

"Cool." Fred said. "How do we get there?"

As Fred asked the question, Shaggy took out the map he had picked up at Ottawa Union Station.

"It's actually easy." Bert said as Shaggy handed him the map and looked over.

Taking out a pencil, the clerk pointed at the Lord Elgin Hotel on the map and said, "You folks are all here right now."

"Right." Velma nodded before the clerk moved his pencil and then pointed at Lansdowne Park.

"This is where the SuperEX is at." Bert continued, pointing at the park.

The gang all nodded as Bert continued, "So to get to Lansdowne Park, all you need to do is drive down Elgin Street and reach the Pretoria Bridge, then make a right turn onto Colonel By Drive, where you will then be driving along the Rideau Canal."

Bert then traced the route until the Bank Street Bridge and continued, "After you cross under the Bank Street Bridge, make a left turn onto the ramp to the left, which brings you onto Bank Street, where you then make another left turn. Lansdowne Park is right across the canal from Colonel By Drive."

Finishing with his directions, Bert put down the pencil and handed back the map to Shaggy.

"Sounds easy." Fred remarked.

"Yeah, it is easy to get to Lansdowne Park from here." Bert nodded. "However, I strongly advise you folks to take the streetcars or buses to the SuperEX during this time, because the traffic on both Bank and Elgin can be tough during rush hour."

"So we've noticed." Velma remarked, commenting on the heavy traffic they saw upon departing from Ottawa Union Station.

"In that case, what streetcar or bus routes do you suggest that we take, Mr. Clair?" Fred asked.

"Hmmm..." Bert thought for a while before replying. "Take the Route 5 Elgin & Main Streetcar to Billings Bridge, which is where the route ends, and then transfer to the Route 1 streetcar that is signed '1 Rideau Street'. Get off at the first stop once you cross the Bank Street Bridge over the Rideau Canal."

"Sure thing." Fred nodded. "Thanks for the directions, Mr. Clair."

"No problem." Bert nodded back as the gang made their way out of the Lord Elgin Hotel.

On the way, Shaggy picked up a copy of the  _Ottawa Journal_ newspaper.

Outside the hotel, the gang looked around as an Ottawa Transportation Commission GM Fishbowl bus drove by them.

"The traffic seems lighter now, gang." Fred said. "What do you think?"

"Well, we can still take the streetcars, Freddie." Daphne said.

"Like, yeah." Shaggy agreed. "Who knows how bad the traffic further down the street could be, and not to mention that we might have difficulties finding a parking spot at the park?"

"Shag's got a point." Daphne nodded. "We should just keep the Mystery Machine parked in the parking garage and take the streetcars."

"Well, it's almost five-thirty, guys." Velma said as she glanced at her wristwatch. "The traffic should be clearer by now."

"Yeah." Fred nodded. "Besides, I don't think any of us can get used to the packed streetcars we might end up riding, gang, and there's no telling whether they will allow Scooby on them."

Shaggy, Scooby and Daphne looked at each other and sighed.

"Sure thing, Fred." Shaggy said. "Let's go find the Mystery Machine."

However, it turned out that Shaggy was right about the traffic. While the gang didn't encounter much issues on Elgin Street, upon reaching the Pretoria Bridge and making the right turn onto Colonel By Drive, they almost immediately encounter a serious traffic jam.

"Oh, boy." Fred sighed. "Sometimes I feel like a slice of ham."

"I'm guessing it must be the afternoon rush hour traffic from Union Station." Velma remarked.

As they waited patiently in the traffic, Shaggy decided to read the newspaper he had picked up.

"Anything in the news, Shag?" Daphne asked as she turned to the back.

"Like, here's some interesting news." Shaggy said as he flipped a page. "It says that the Dynamic Duo had helped the RCMP bust a cross-border smuggling ring near Kicking Horse Pass."

"Jinkies." Velma said. "That's where we were at just two days ago!"

"I don't know why did those smugglers pick such a place for their operations, but I suppose the remote terrain must've been of great help masking their activities." Fred said.

"Although the cover sure wasn't clever enough to fool the Batman and Robin." Daphne surmised.

Shaggy nodded as he flipped another page in the newspaper. He came upon another news article from a section covering Canada news, and one of the articles reported on the results of a referendum held in Ontario the previous day.

The referendum in question was held, asking voters to decide whether the province should join the ranks of the other nine provinces in establishing an upper house for its legislature.

Currently, Ontario has a unicameral legislature in the form of the Legislative Assembly of Ontario being the sole chamber of the provincial Parliament of Ontario.

In the past two decades, Alberta, Saskatchewan and British Columbia have held similar referendums in whether to establish an elected upper house of their respective legislatures, all of which passed.

During that same time period, provinces that already had upper houses of legislatures have held referendums, mainly to reform the bodies into elected chambers the same way their respective lower houses are.

Those provinces were Quebec, Nova Scotia and New Brunswick. Their upper houses, all Legislative Councils (The Legislative Council of Quebec changed its name to the Senate of Quebec in 1968 when it became an elected upper house of the Quebec Legislature), started out as an appointed body when they joined Confederation the same way the Senate of Canada started out at Confederation.

It was Newfoundland's entry into Confederation in 1949 that triggered a wave of reformations of the legislative upper houses across Canada, as the new province joined Confederation with an elected Senate as the upper house of its general assembly.

It was also that event that triggered Prince Edward Island and Manitoba, both of whom joined Confederation with bicameral legislatures but have abolished their upper houses prior to the turn of the century, to hold referendums and reestablish their respective abolished upper houses, but this time as elected bodies.

By Canada's Centennial, Ontario was the only province that has an unicameral legislature together with the two territories and the District of Carleton.

Anyways, with the referendum passed with 54 % of the voters voting in favour of the proposal, the seats of the new Legislative Council of Ontario will be first contested in the upcoming 1971 provincial election.

As far as Shaggy knew through his civics class, the State of Nebraska is the only state legislature that is unicameral out of the 50 states, and he was also aware that one state of Australia likewise has a unicameral legislature.

By the time he put down the newspaper, Lansdowne Park was already in view from across the Rideau Canal.

"Looks like we're almost there, gang." Fred announced.

* * *

After spending five minutes at the intersection between Echo Drive and Bank Street waiting for the traffic to clear, the Mystery Machine made its left turn and drove across the Bank Street Bridge.

Before long, the Mystery Machine pulled into an empty parking spot in front of the football stadium in Lansdowne Park and the gang got off.

"No wonder the hotel clerk advised us to take the streetcars." Fred remarked as he watched a Ottawa Car Company-manufactured PCC streetcar sped down Bank Street as it prepared to pull into the streetcar stop at the traffic medium, right at the intersection between Bank Street and Exhibition Way.

"Well, at least we're here." Daphne said as Fred locked the van.

Soon, the gang walked through the entrance gate to the SuperEX, where they were greeted by the fair stands and the crowds of people and the rides and the exhibitions.

"Jinkies." Velma remarked. "Look at the crowd of people!"

"It must be a very popular event in the city." Daphne surmised.

"Like, I'll bet that the food must be good!" Shaggy said before partially pulling up his shirt, which revealed a couple of coin-sorting tubes attached to his belt.

Eying one particular food stand, Scooby licked his lips when he saw the food items on the menu.

"Rancakes with maple syrup!" Scooby remarked. "Yum, yum, yum, yum!"

"Scoob and I are going to sample some of the food if you guys don't mind." Shaggy said.

"Have fun, guys." Daphne said before adding jokingly. "And don't buy out the entire food stands!"

"Knowing those two, I'm sure they will." Velma remarked as Shaggy and Scooby took off.

Daphne chuckled before joining Fred and Velma in walking around the fair.

* * *

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	3. An air cadet recruitment stand and wax figure exhibition stand

Chapter 3: An air cadet recruitment stand and wax figure exhibition stand

**(Mystery Inc.)**

With Shaggy and Scooby trying out the food offered at the stands, Fred and the girls decided to look around, walking around the fair as they did so.

They eventually came upon a small crowd of people watching a group of what appeared to be uniformed, young, teenage boys standing stiffly.

"Squad, by the left, quick, march!" A voice barked.

At the command, the group of boys started marching, swinging their right arms with machine-like precision as they went.

Fred, Velma and Daphne all shared a look, shrugged, before walking over to the small crowd.

When they got a closer look, they saw that the boys were all wearing light blue dress shirts with slip-ons, dark blue trousers and each a wedge-shaped cap. In addition, they saw that the boys were all carrying arms.

"Squad left, turn!" The same voice barked suddenly.

A step after the command was issued, the boys all turned left, banging their right feet on the ground right beside their left feet before carrying on marching, stepping out with their left feet.

All of the boys had emotionless looks on their faces as they marched on, and Fred and the girls turned towards the source of the commands.

It was a teenage boy in glasses roughly in their age group and he was dressed in the same fashion as the boys he was commanding. However, unlike the boys that were marching, the commander was wearing a peaked cap instead of the wedge-shaped cap.

Also, Fred and the girls could see that the boy had a couple of medal ribbons above the left breast pocket of his dress shirt, in addition to an aircrew brevet pinned on top of those ribbons.

Upon closer look at the commander's shoulders, Fred and the girls saw the boy had three chevrons with a crown of some sort.

"Aren't these boys too young to join the military?" Daphne asked quietly, gesturing discreetly towards the marching boys as she spoke.

"Canada has never struck to me as a militaristic country." Fred remarked quietly.

Velma was silent as she consulted her guidebook on Canada, flipping through the pages as Fred and Daphne made their respective remarks.

"Actually, guys, they're not part of the military." Velma said when she came upon a page. "These young people are members of the Royal Canadian Air Cadets. It's a youth organization dedicated to promote interest in aviation and citizenship to the young in Canada, in addition to giving them the feels of the military, which the cadets could later join if they want to do so as a career option. It's similar to the Civil Air Patrol cadet program down in the States."

"Ah, I see." Fred said as he and Daphne both nodded thoughtfully.

It was then that they saw a nearby stand with the banners "Royal Canadian Air Cadets" and "Recruitment Centre" with a few people, some of them accompanied by young children, looking around inside, and a few of them were speaking to the uniformed men and boys in the stand.

It was also in that moment that they spotted a glider and a Cessna 182 aircraft parked on the left of the stand.

"Wow." Fred remarked when he saw the glider and the Cessna. "I wonder how much skill does it take to fly a plane?"

As Fred and the girls looked on, Shaggy and Scooby, both carrying piles of food they have just bought, joined them.

"Is that a military parade?" Shaggy asked after finishing a sandwich.

"Those boys are cadets, Shaggy." Velma said. "They're not part of the military and are not obliged to join it."

"Then, like, why are they marching with rifles?" Shaggy asked.

"I believe it's part of their military drill demonstration with their recruitment centre right beside." Velma explained, gesturing towards the recruitment centre stand as she spoke.

Eying the glider and the Cessna, Shaggy remarked, "If they get to fly aircraft, then it should be a lot of fun."

At that moment, a voice addressing them asked, "Are you folks interested about joining the Royal Canadian Air Cadets?"

The gang paused and turned, seeing a white-haired man in uniform walking towards them with a smile. His name tag said "LENNY" and the group could see a medal ribbon on top of the man's left breast pocket.

"Ah, we were just walking by and saw the parading here, Mr. Lenny." Fred quickly said.

"And we're actually from out of town, um, Lieutenant." Velma added, eying the stripes worn on the officer's shoulders.

"I take it that you folks are visiting from the States, eh?" Lenny asked.

"How did you know we're from the States?" Daphne asked as the others arched their eyebrows.

"Simple." Lenny replied. "It's based on the way your friend here pronounced the rank of Lieutenant in the American way. Here in Canada, as well as across the pond in the UK and other Commonwealth militaries, the rank is actually pronounced as Left-tenant."

"Ah, I see." The gang all nodded understandingly.

"Also, I'm not a full time Air Force officer, just so you know." Lenny continued. "I'm part of a cadre of Cadet Instructors, which is a branch within the reserves of all four branches of the Canadian Armed Forces dedicated to training and instructing cadets. In other times, I serve full time with the Ottawa police."

"Wow." Shaggy remarked. "Like, it must be an interesting to be both protecting and serving people of the city, as well as instructing a next generation of cadets."

"Indeed it is." Lenny nodded. "And one more thing: In the Royal Canadian Air Force, we don't use army-style ranks like the US Air Force does. Instead, our ranks are derived from the British Royal Air Force, so instead of Lieutenant, I actually hold the rank of Flying Officer."

"Like, does that mean that you actually get to fly?" Shaggy asked. "Afterall, it wouldn't be 'flying officer' if the officer can't fly. Get it?"

At the later remark, Shaggy elbowed Scooby before they burst out laughing at the pun.

"Not exactly." Lenny said. "You must be a qualified pilot in order to fly, and this is actually a downside of the Royal Air Force-style officer ranks: The rank titles often implies that the holder can do something the rank title indicates, so for example, for my case, my rank of Flying Officer, at first glance, seems to imply that I can fly. In reality, unless I am a qualified pilot, which is indicated by the aircrew brevet, or wing, typically worn above the left breast pocket, I don't fly."

"Then, what's up with the rank title?" Fred asked.

"It actually has a bit of a history surrounding the years leading to the formation of the Royal Air Force in the closing years of the European Great War." Lenny replied before proceeding to explain the history behind the Royal Air Force-style ranks and how Canada and many Commonwealth air forces came to adopt them subsequently.

"That's good to know, Flying Officer Lenny." Velma said thoughtfully after the explanations. "It's always good and interesting to learn about the customs of other countries while travelling overseas."

At that moment, the cadet drill commander barked, "Squad, dismiss!"

At the command, the cadets all executed a right turn, saluted and then marched five steps forward before halting.

When the onlookers all clapped their hands and cheered, the commander told the cadets that they're good to go.

The gang looked on as the drill commander and the cadets made their way to the stand.

**(Garfield Stephenson Wu)**

Garfield and the cadets were pretty much worn out for the day after an afternoon of rifle drill demonstration, especially with him barking commands at the cadets in the hot afternoon.

While the cadets have plenty of break time during the afternoon, including a half-hour break where they get to walk around the fair and enjoy the rides, performing rifle drills for most of the afternoon was proven to be physically taxing for the cadets.

Anyways, now that they're done for the day, Garfield could head home to have dinner and then have his rest.

Well, actually, not quite.

His parents were invited over to a dinner party by a Canadian barrister friend of his father's, a party that will likely end late, and his brother Dave was sleeping over at a cadet friend's place.

His sisters Diana and Emma are both out of town, travelling to Toronto for a few days with some friends.

With nothing cooking or any leftovers from the previous day, Garfield was told that he could eat out for lunch and dinner.

As he took another drink of water in the stand, he looked outside and saw Flying Officer Lenny speaking to a group of four young people, who were accompanied by a dog.

He raised an eyebrow but didn't say a word. After all, he thought that the SuperEX doesn't allow pets into the exhibition fair.

"Guess not." He thought to himself before shrugging and checking his watch.

As he prepared to head out with the intention of dropping by at a restaurant to have dinner before heading home, Lenny walked to him.

"Heading home for the night, Flight Sergeant Wu?" Lenny asked.

"Indeed I am, sir." Garfield nodded. "I'm pretty much worn out for the day, as with the cadets."

"That, I can see." Lenny nodded understandingly. "So other than the drill demonstrations, did you have fun today?"

"I sure did, sir." Garfield said before looking around quickly and lowered his voice and continued, "However, there's something I think you ought to know about, sir."

"What is it, Mr. Wu?" Lenny raised an eyebrow.

"During the half-hour break where we get to walk around the fair and enjoy some of the rides, I noticed something strange at the concession stands." Garfield replied. "There were a dozen slot machine set-ups."

"Slot machines?" Lenny arched his eyebrows. "In the fair?"

"Exactly, sir." Garfield nodded. "If you will come along, I will show you where they are."

**(Mystery Inc.)**

Meanwhile, after speaking to the air force officer at the air cadet recruitment stand, the gang decided to walk around the fair before coming upon a wax figure exhibition stand.

"Take a look at this, gang." Fred remarked as they reached the entrance to the exhibition stand, where there was a wax figure of Count Dracula right by the entrance. "A wax figure exhibition stand!"

"Zoinks!" Shaggy gulped when he saw the wax figure by the entrance. "It's Count Dracula!"

"Relax, Shaggy." Velma said. "It's only a wax statue."

"But it sure looks life-like." Shaggy said. "Like, makes my blood run cold."

"Reah." Scooby agreed as he shivered.

"Well, anyways, let's go in and take a look at the wax figures in the stand, gang." Fred suggested.

"Oh goodie." Daphne said. "I'll get my camera ready."

As Fred and Daphne made the remarks, Shaggy and Scooby wondered off to the side of the wax figure exhibition stand.

In the process, Shaggy caught a glimpse of the stand next to the wax figure exhibition stand.

"Slot machines?" Shaggy wondered.

"Hey you two." Velma said to them. "We're heading into the wax figure exhibition stand. Are you joining us?"

Shaggy and Scooby quickly turned. "Like, we're coming!"

As they rushed to join their friends, Scooby happened to look towards the gap between the two stands and caught a glimpse of two figures making some sort of a transaction.

"Huh?" Scooby asked as he paused to take a closer look.

As Shaggy joined Fred and the girls in walking into the stand, Daphne noticed that Scooby wasn't with Shaggy.

"Scooby Doo, where are you?" She called out.

"Like, we're heading in, Scooby!" Shaggy added.

Upon hearing his friends, Scooby quickly rushed over as he said, "Roming!"

However, as soon as the gang were inside the stand and there's no other passerby in sight, the wax figure at the entrance to the wax exhibition stand suddenly rolled its eyes and slowly turned its head towards the entrance.


	4. In the administrative office and two chases

Chapter 4: In the administrative office and two chases

**(Garfield Stephenson Wu)**

In no time did Garfield led Flying Officer Lenny to the stand where he had spotted the slot machines. Along the way, the duo walked past the wax figure exhibition stand when Garfield noticed something else amiss.

"That's odd." Garfield remarked when he and Lenny walked by the wax figure exhibition stand.

"What's the matter, Mr. Wu?" Lenny asked.

"There was a wax figure in the form of Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula standing near the entrance to that stand the last time I walked by here a couple hours ago." Garfield said as he pointed at the location of where the wax figure used to stand. "But it's now gone."

"Perhaps the exhibition stand operators moved it to a different location." Lenny offered before noticing the footprints on the metal plate on the ground and added, "Though I'm sure they won't remove the wax figure from its metal plate while moving it to a different location."

Garfield nodded before saying, "And the stand with the slot machines is just next door, sir."

Lenny nodded as he peeked into the stand.

Sure enough, there were a few adults playing at the slot machines and trying their luck in winning prize money.

"Hmmm..." Lenny nodded thoughtfully after watching a few adults playing a few rounds. "I know someone in the board of the Central Canada Exhibition Association who's responsible for running the fair. He was, in fact, an old friend of Bruce Stevenson from their younger days."

"Retired Lieutenant Colonel Paul Wilkinson, I presume." Garfield said. "I read about his reactions to the final settlement of Bruce Stevenson's estate two years ago in the paper, and I'm surprised that he didn't witness the will."

**(For more information on the Bruce Stevenson estate case and settlement, please check out _D4 Garfield and the Secret of the School Library!_ , which functions as Garfield Stephenson Wu's origin story.)**

"That's him." Lenny nodded. "And yeah, although his talkative personality might've made Mr. Stevenson fear that the Ewells will find out on him making the new will. But anyways, let's go to the administrative office of the fair so I can have a word with him."

"I'm supposing that the Association should've applied for a license to operate slot machines in the fair, eh?" Garfield asked as he followed Lenny.

"Indeed it should have done so." Lenny replied. "Our trip to the administrative office will soon tell us if they had the license to operate slot machines, though through my acquaintance with Lieutenant Colonel Wilkinson, I highly doubt that, since the lieutenant colonel isn't the type who enjoys gambling and wouldn't entertain the idea of setting them up in the fair. In fact, it was a trait he inherited from his service in the Canadian Army during the recent major war in Europe."

"I suppose we'll soon find out, sir." Garfield nodded thoughtfully.

**(Mystery Inc.)**

Meanwhile, the gang were walking down the main hallway of the wax exhibition stand and looking around at the wax figures on display.

"Golly." Daphne remarked as they looked at a wax figure of Jacques Cartier. "These wax figures looked all too real."

"Indeed." Velma nodded as she looked at the tag before adding, "That's Jacques Cartier, the French explorer who was the first European to discover what is now Canada and was responsible for mapping the Gulf of Saint Lawrence."

"Cool." Fred remarked. "I suppose Cartier to Canada is similar to Christopher Columbus is to the States."

"Something like that." Velma said before they carried on down the exhibition.

A short time later, though, the gang entered an area of the exhibition stand with poor lighting.

As it became darker, it became clear to the gang that they have to hold hands to avoid accidentally splitting up.

"Uh oh, it's getting dark here, gang." Fred said as he reached his hand out. "I think we'd better hold hands so we won't get lost."

"Good idea, Freddie." Velma nodded before reaching over to hold Fred's hand.

"Shaggy, Scooby." Daphne called out as she grabbed Velma's other hand. "Grab my hand."

However, there was no response from Shaggy and Scooby.

"Uh, Shag?" Daphne asked. "Scooby?"

A minute went by before Daphne managed to hold onto someone's hand.

"Ah, okay." Daphne said. "There you guys are, though Shaggy, your hand does feel unusually cold."

"Maybe he and Scooby had plenty of ice cream." Velma offered.

"I suppose so, though I'm sure they would've finished their ice cream by now." Daphne said before they reached an area where the lighting is better.

Daphne then turned to her back and gasped when she saw who she was holding hands with.

"Jeepers!" She exclaimed.

"What is it?" Fred and Velma both asked before following Daphne's gaze and gasped as well.

"Jinkies!" Velma exclaimed.

"Holy moly!" Fred exclaimed as the trio found themselves facing Count Dracula, while Shaggy and Scooby were nowhere to be seen.

The Count, or rather, the wax figure of the legendary vampire lord, growled menacingly at Fred and the girls.

"This wasn't in the guide book to the SuperEX!" Velma said. "And besides, Bela Lugosi has passed on years ago."

"Well, he sure looks alive enough to me!" Daphne said.

"There's one thing we should do, girls." Fred said. "Run!"

Immediately, Fred and the girls ran off before the wax figure could grab them.

**(Garfield Stephenson Wu)**

Meanwhile, Garfield and Lenny have arrived at the Central Canada Exhibition Association's administrative office in the fair.

At the reception desk, Lenny asked the lady for Lieutenant Colonel Paul Wilkinson.

"Colonel Wilkinson?" The lady at the reception desk asked as she rose from her seat. "I'll go check-"

Before she could finish, the back door to the office opened and in came Wilkinson, who was accompanied by another man.

"Ah, no need." Lenny said before calling out to Wilkinson. "Lieutenant Colonel Wilkinson, sir? How are you?"

"Eh?" Wilkinson asked before walking over to Lenny.

"We were just passing by, sir." Lenny explained. "And we thought we should drop in to say hi-"

Before Lenny could finish, Wilkinson said abruptly. "Well, er, it's great to see you again. However, I'm, er, quite busy at the moment. Feel free to drop by sometime!"

And with that, Wilkinson and the man headed out of the door.

"He sure gave you the cold shoulder, sir." Garfield remarked. "I don't think he usually does that, right?"

"Indeed." Lenny nodded. "And I believe I know why. Follow me."

Swiftly, Garfield followed Lenny out of the door, where they soon spotted Wilkinson with the man. The lieutenant colonel was scratching his right leg.

"There's the lieutenant colonel scratching his right leg." Lenny whispered to Garfield.

"Yes indeed, sir." Garfield nodded. "So...hey, wait a minute, sir. Didn't Wilkinson lose his right leg during the war?"

"That's right, Mr. Wu." Lenny nodded. "During the Northern Africa theater, he got into a serious accident and have to have the leg amputated when the wound became infected."

"And as a result, he now wears a false leg, right?" Garfield asked.

"That's right." Lenny nodded again. "A man only scratches his leg when it itches."

Watching Wilkinson finish scratching his right leg, Garfield nodded before saying, "And given that a false leg can't itch, that means that man over there isn't Wilkinson at all, sir!"

"Yes indeed, Mr. Wu." Lenny said. "And I recognize the man accompanying the 'lieutenant colonel'. He's Bob 'The Coyote' James, a cunning, small-time second-story burglar wanted by the Metro Toronto police for a string of burglaries across Toronto."

As they watched the two men leave, Garfield turned to Lenny.

"So what should we do, sir?" Garfield asked.

"Good question, Mr. Wu." Lenny said. "Given what we just witnessed and the missing wax figure you pointed out, I won't be surprised if we're dealing with something strange or even illegal here."

**(Shaggy and Scooby)**

Meanwhile, Shaggy and Scooby have wondered off into another section of the wax figure exhibition stand after walking through a dark area.

"Hey, like, where did the rest of the gang go, Scoob?" Shaggy asked when he and Scooby realized that they were on their own.

"Ruh roh." Scooby swallowed when he saw the figures up ahead. "Re have to split rup rith rem at the rorst possible place, too!"

Shaggy looked towards where Scooby was looking at and gulped.

They were at the entrance to the exhibition of horror film monsters and spooks!

"Zoinks!" Shaggy swallowed as Scooby leaped into his arms. "Of all the places we have to end up at."

Scooby whimpered as he nodded in agreement.

"Oh well, they're all wax figures anyways, Scoob." Shaggy said as he put Scooby down. "Though we better still go find Fred and the girls."

Scooby nodded as he followed Shaggy through the exhibition hallway. As they walked down the hallway, they stopped by a wax figure of Lou Chaney's portrayal of the Phantom of the Opera.

"Like, wow!" Shaggy said. "The Phantom of the Opera sure looks real, Scoob!"

"Reah." Scooby agreed as he waved a paw in front of the wax figure's face.

"A good thing that he's only a wax dummy, Scoob." Shaggy added as they make faces at the wax figure.

"Dummy rindeed." Scooby agreed as he made a funny face at the figure. "Re-he-he-he-he-he!"

The duo then walked away from the wax figure as they continued to search for Fred and the girls. However, the wax figure almost immediately turned his head and looked towards the duo before proceeding to follow them.

Scooby walked ahead of Shaggy, who then noticed a weird-shaping shadow by his side.

"Hey, like, I've got a weird-shaping shadow." Shaggy said as he, Scooby and the shadow paused.

He then looked forward and saw his own shadow behind Scooby.

"Two shadows?" Shaggy enquired.

It was then that the Phantom of the Opera growled as he placed his hand on Shaggy's shoulder.

Shaggy and Scooby were stunned as they heard the growling before turning to the back, in time to see the Phantom growling menacingly at them!

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed. "Get lost!"

Immediately, the duo took off running before the Phantom wax figure could grab them.

The wax figure of the Phantom chased the duo around the exhibition stand, running in one direction through the hallway.

In the same time, the wax figure of Count Dracula was chasing Fred and the girls on the same hallway, racing in the opposite direction.

The scene then moved to a wax figure of Charlie Chaplin's Little Tramp just as a crash occurred off-screen.

Shaggy, Scooby, Fred, Velma and Daphne all rubbed their heads as they got up from the floor.

"Oh, wow." Daphne said. "We just found each other."

"Are you guys alright?" Fred asked Shaggy and Scooby.

Seeing the two wax figures still running towards them, Shaggy said, "Like, we won't be in a minute if we don't get out of here!"

Fred and the girls looked and saw the Count and the Phantom racing towards them.

"Run!" Fred exclaimed.

"Gangway!" Shaggy shouted as they raced down the perpendicular hallway towards the exit, just as the two wax figures ended up crashing into each other!

**(Garfield Stephenson Wu)**

At that very moment, Garfield and Lenny spotted four young people and a Great Dane racing out of the wax figure exhibition stand.

"Hey, those are the group of American tourists that were watching you guys doing the rifle drill demonstration earlier, Mr. Wu." Lenny said.

"I know." Garfield nodded. "I saw you speaking to them after I dismissed the squad."

"And they sure looked like they've just seen a ghost." Lenny added as the group paused for breath. "Maybe we should check on them."

"Good idea, sir." Garfield nodded as they walked over to the group.

* * *

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	5. A conclusion, introductions and the split-up

Chapter 5: A conclusion, introductions and the split-up

The gang all stopped to catch their breaths after exiting the wax figure exhibition stand.

Seeing that the two wax figures didn't follow them out of the stand, the gang all sighed in relief.

"That was a close one, gang." Fred said as he whipped his forehead in relief.

"You said it, Freddie." Velma said.

"I sure wonder what was that all about?" Daphne asked.

"Like, I don't recall hearing about wax figures coming to life to scare visitors or even chasing them out of the stand." Shaggy said.

It was then that the gang spotted Flying Officer Lenny and the cadet drill commander, who were walking towards them.

Upon closer look, they noted that the cadet drill commander had a name tag that "WU".

"Are you guys alright?" The cadet drill commander asked.

"You all seemed look you've just seen a ghost." Lenny added.

"We're alright, Flying Officer Lenny." Fred said.

"What were you guys running from?" The drill commander then asked. "From the look of your faces, I suppose it was more than ghosts, eh?"

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "Like, two of the wax figures in that exhibitions stand came alive and chased us out of the stand!"

"Holy cow." The drill commander remarked before gesturing towards the empty metal plate with the pair of foot prints and added. "That must've explained why the wax figure of Bela Lugosi's portrayal of Count Dracula was missing over there, right by the entrance."

"Maybe." Lenny nodded thoughtfully. "However, we all know that there's no way wax figures can come to life on it own, unless that the wax figures are really someone in disguise. Someone looking for trouble, to be precise."

"But what kind of trouble will someone be looking for here?" Fred asked.

"And why go through the trouble to scare people away from the stand if the publicity will cause fair-goers to avoid coming to the fair?" Velma added.

"Good question, kids." Lenny nodded thoughtfully again. "If what you kids just witnessed in the wax figure exhibition stand was indeed, true, then this wouldn't be the only strange going-on at the fair."

"What do you mean, Flying Officer?" Daphne asked.

"Early on, Flight Sergeant Garfield Wu here led me to check out the neighbouring slot machine stands." Lenny said as he gestured towards the cadet drill commander, who nodded as he spoke. "Given that you need a license to operate slot machines in a setting like this, and we didn't spot a license while checking out the stand, we decided to go visit the administrative office and speak to retired Lieutenant Colonel Paul Wilkinson, who's a board member of the Association running the fair."

"However, when we met with the colonel, he dismissed us stating that he's busy at the moment." Garfield added. "And then, when we followed Colonel Wilkinson out of the office, we saw him scratching his right leg."

Before anyone in the gang could say something, Garfield continued, "Now, one thing to note was that the colonel lost his right leg during the war and wears a false one."

"Which means that the 'Colonel Wilkinson' you guys met with is actually an impostor?" Shaggy asked as he connected the dots.

"Precisely." Garfield and Lenny both nodded.

"Rand earlier, Ri saw a transaction rof some sort rin re alleyway rere." Scooby added, gesturing towards the dark alleyway separating the wax figure exhibition stand from the one with the slot machines.

"So here's what we've got so far, gang." Fred said. "Two wax figures that came to life and chased us out of the exhibition stand, slot machines in the neighbouring stand, Scooby witnessing a transaction in the alleyway over there and the colonel running the fair who is actually an impostor."

"And adding all that together, I smell an illegal gambling ring operating here in the fair, gang." Velma nodded.

"That's what I think, too." Lenny nodded in agreement. "Though the only thing we need is concrete evidence of that going on."

"Not to mention finding the missing colonel." Fred added. "If he was really impersonated, then there's a good chance he must be missing."

"Right." Lenny nodded again before turning to the gang and added. "However, what we may be getting into is dangerous for folks like you, and only a deity, if any of you believe in one, knows what possible danger you folks may encounter if you decide to continue to check out these strange aspects."

"Ah, we can handle investigations like this, Flying Officer." Fred reassured Lenny. "Back in our hometown, we actually help solve mysteries like this."

"Like wax figures coming to life?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Something like that." Velma said. "The Black Knight coming to life at night, ghost appearances, phantoms, mummies...you name them."

Garfield and Lenny turned and looked at each other, then they nodded.

"Fair enough." Lenny nodded. "Now, I'm heading back to the recruitment stand to help close it down for the day."

Turning to Garfield, he added, "Mr. Wu, given that you have your own experience in investigating strange going-ons, especially with the one related to the Bruce Stevenson Case, perhaps you'd like to tag along with these fine young folks?"

"That will be a great idea, sir." Garfield nodded. "I'm anxious to see if we can get to the bottom of what happened to Lieutenant Colonel Paul Wilkinson."

"Very well." Lenny said. "You know the drill, Mr. Wu."

"Right." Garfield said. "If we discover something, we go fetch you, eh?"

"You got it." Lenny nodded before walking off.

And soon, Garfield found himself together with the gang.

"So...where do you suggest that we start?" Garfield asked Fred as he folded his arms.

"I'd like to take another look at the wax figure exhibition stand." Fred said. "Given what we have all witnessed, I can't help but feel that there's something fishy going on in this stand."

"Rou mean...?" Scooby asked, though they all already knew the answer.

"That's right, Scooby." Fred nodded. "We're going fishing in there."

"Say, was it just me, or did your Great Dane here just actually talk?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"Like, Scoob here can talk." Shaggy said. "All members of his family can, Mr., uh..."

"You guys can just call me Garfield." Garfield waved a hand. "No need to be formal by addressing me through my cadet rank."

"I don't believe we've introduced ourselves yet." Fred said as he gestured to himself. "I'm Fred Jones."

Gesturing towards the girls, he added, "This is Velma Dinkley and Daphne Blake."

"Hi." Velma and Daphne both said as they shook hands with Garfield.

"And the name's Rogers." Shaggy added as he extended his hand to Garfield. "Norville Rogers, but please call me Shaggy."

"I understand." Garfield nodded as he shook Shaggy's offered hand.

"And this is Scooby Doo." Daphne added as she gestured towards Scooby.

"Rowdy Do!" Scooby barked as he offered his paw to Garfield, who seemed a bit hesitant to shake it.

"Don't worry." Shaggy reassured Garfield. "Like, Scooby won't do any harm."

"He can be a ham at times." Velma added.

Garfield nodded thoughtfully as he shook Scooby's offered paw.

"So just curious, how long have you been in the Royal Canadian Air Cadets, Garfield?" Daphne asked as she nodded at his rank slip-ons.

"Oh, since I was twelve, which is the minimum age for one to join." Garfield replied. "That will be in the fall of 1965."

"Like, what is it like?" Shaggy asked.

"It is interesting." Garfield said. "It gives you the feel of being in the military, especially with the interacting with cadets of different ranks, in addition to the field training exercises, training in aviation-related material such as navigation and the primary forces affecting an aircraft while in flight, volunteering in community events, such as the Remembrance Day parades, fundraising, the military drill and summer training, which includes the glider and power camps I attended this and last summers."

"Wow." Velma nodded thoughtfully. "Sounds like a lot of fun."

"Indeed it is." Garfield nodded. "But I digress. As Fred was saying, we should go into the wax figure exhibition stand to check things out."

"Right." Velma said. "If what you and Flying Officer Lenny witnessed was true, then we've got a missing person to find."

"Sure reminds me of the time we 'went fishing' in the County Museum last fall to check out suspicious activities and find Professor Hyde White." Shaggy said as they once again entered the wax figure exhibition stand.

Soon, the gang found themselves in the main room with hallways leading to the other parts of the exhibition stand.

"I think we better split up, gang." Fred suggested before pointing to the left and said. "The girls go this way."

Pointing to the right, Fred added, "Shag, Scoob, you boys can handle the stuff over there."

"Um...okay." Shaggy said nervously.

"And Garfield and I will handle the stuff straight ahead." Fred continued, turning to Garfield as he spoke.

"Sure thing." Garfield nodded before looking at his watch and added, "We'd better get moving, guys. It's going to be late soon, and the sooner we get to the bottom of this and find the missing colonel, the better."

"Right." Velma said as they proceeded to split up.

However, shortly after the gang splits up, the two wax figures chasing them earlier revealed themselves from their hidden positions.

"We're going to have to split up as well." The wax figure of the Phantom of the Opera said to Dracula. "I'll follow the boy with the mutt while you take care of the scarf-wearing boy with the young cop."

"What about the girls?" The wax figure of Dracula asked.

"Don't worry about them." The wax Phantom replied. "I'm sure the boys can take care of them the same way they took care of old Wilkinson."

"Oh, yeah." The wax Dracula nodded. "That sure is a brilliant idea of the boss. Having Brian impersonating the old man was sure pure genius!"

"Indeed." The wax Phantom nodded in agreement. "Now let's get to work before these meddling kids spoils everything!"

"Right." The wax Dracula nodded again before the two wax figures split up.

* * *

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	6. Separate activities

Chapter 6: Separate activities

**(Velma and Daphne)**

On the left, the girls walked down the hallway full of wax figure displays. The realism of the wax figures unnerved Daphne.

"These wax figures sure gives me the creeps!" Daphne remarked as they looked around. "It feels like as if someone's watching you."

"With the realism, I can't say I disagree." Velma nodded. "It'll help if we can find another clue."

"Yeah, the sooner we find a clue and get out of here, the..." Daphne was about to finish her sentence when Velma suddenly shushed her as she suddenly stopped. In the silence, the girls heard some muffled noise coming from a nearby doorway leading to a darker room.

"Listen." Velma whispered after shushing Daphne. "Did you hear that?"

Daphne nodded as she and Velma peeked through the partially-opened doorway. Through the crack, they saw six men seated around a table and a couple of them are drinking.

"How is everything so far, boys?" The man in the middle and wearing blue suit asked.

"Swell, Jimmy. Swell." One of the men in the brown suits replied to the man in the blue suit, and the girls can detect a French accent in the man's reply.

"I have to say, Jimmy." A second man dressed in brown said as he gestured towards the older man with the mustache before adding. "Getting Brian here to impersonate Wilkinson was a brilliant idea."

"No kidding." A man dressed in orange nodded in agreement after taking a sip of his drink. "Not to mention cooking up this idea of wax figures coming alive in this stand was just pure genius, Jimmy."

"Ah, there's no need for you boys to give me all the credit." Jimmy said as he calmed the men around him. "If it weren't for you boys, especially Brian, I won't be able to implement this scheme in the first place."

"With Wilkinson locked away, Brian collects all of the gate receipts while all we have to do was sit back and make more dough!" The fourth man said.

"And with Tim and Jeff wondering around in this stand posing as Dracula and the Phantom, we can simply relax and let them scare away any snoopers." Brian added.

"Not to mention that getting the commission from those running the concession stands helps us get more dough." The sixth man added.

"Anyways, boys." Jimmy said. "Line up and let's get down to business."

The men all nodded as they lined up to their leader.

"So how did things at the slot machines went, Pierre?" Jimmy asked the first man in the brown suit.

"Tres bien." Pierre nodded as he took out the cash he obtained, speaking in his native French. "I've made un mille."

"Things were sure a blast." The second man agreed as he prepared his cash.

"And I've scored a touchdown in picking pockets!" The man in orange added.

Overhearing the conversation, Velma and Daphne turned and looked at each other.

"We've got to warn the others about those two 'wax figures' that are running around here." Velma whispered urgently. "They're criminals engaged in an illegal gambling ring!"

"Yeah." Daphne nodded. "But we've also gotta find Colonel Wilkinson if he's really locked up somewhere."

Just as the redhead was about to say something else, she unintentionally backed into a wax figure right behind her, causing it to tip over.

"Look out!" Velma whispered urgently.

Her warning came too late, as the wax figure almost immediately crashed onto the floor, alerting the occupants in the room.

"What in the?" The fourth man asked as they all drew their weapons.

"Must be one of those careless visitors knocking over the wax figure outside!" Pierre surmised.

"But aren't Tim and Jeff patrolling the stand and scaring away any potential snooper?" Brian asked.

"We'd better go check!" Jimmy said. "Open the door!"

Hearing the men inside the room responding to the crash, the girls looked at each other.

"Quick!" Velma said. "Let's go find a place to hide!"

"But where?" Daphne asked as she looked around. "All there is are wax statues."

"I know, but I've got an idea." Velma said. "Come on!"

**(Fred and Garfield)**

Meanwhile, at another part of the stand, Garfield and Fred were walking and looking around, armed with their flashlights.

"I never thought that the lights in the wax figure stand could be that dim." Fred remarked as they looked around. At the moment, they were using his flashlight.

"I know, eh?" Garfield agreed. "One thing for sure is that given the type of wax figures that are in the exhibition, I suppose that the dim lights are intended to give a spooky atmosphere in the exhibition stand."

"I suppose you're right." Fred nodded as they continued on.

As they continued on down the hallway, they heard squeaky footsteps following them.

"Someone's gotta get their shoes cleaned." Fred remarked. "Maybe you need to change into your regular shoes from wearing those boots all afternoon, Garfield."

"My drill boots never makes that type of noise even when I wear them all day." Garfield said.

"Well, it's not my shoes either." Fred said. "I reckon that the noise is coming from behind us."

The two boys then stopped and turned and looked at the back, where they found themselves face to face with the wax figure of Count Dracula.

"You've got to be kidding me." Garfield said as the wax figure growled before remembering his flashlight.

Swiftly, Garfield immediately turned it on and shined it at the wax figure's eyes. "Here. Take this!"

The wax figure growled as it became blinded by the sudden flash of light emerging from Garfield's flashlight.

"You will pay for this!" The wax Dracula growled as he rubbed his eyes.

"Let's go find the others and get out of here!" Garfield quickly said to Fred.

"Right with you." Fred nodded as the two boys quickly took off.

By the time the wax figure's vision returned, the two boys were nowhere to be seen.

**(Shaggy and Scooby)**

In another part of the wax exhibition stand, Shaggy and Scooby were nervously walking through the dimly-lighted exhibition hallway.

"Like, can you remind me how did we get talked into doing this, Scoob?" Shaggy asked.

"Ri don't remember." Scooby replied.

"Same here." Shaggy agreed. "Like, the sooner we find the others and regroup the better."

Scooby nodded in agreement. As they continued walking, Scooby's tail inadvertently got hooked onto a vacuum cleaner.

As the vacuum cleaner's wheels started squealing, the duo became more nervous.

"Listen, Scoob." Shaggy said. "Did you hear that?"

They stopped before turning and look, spotting the vacuum cleaner.

"Re-he-he-he-he-he-he!." Scooby laughed nervously.

"Like, it's only a vacuum cleaner." Shaggy sighed in relief before reaching over and pressed on the on switch.

However, the vacuum cleaner seemed to be defective, as it began producing a large, dusty fog.

"(Cough, cough) Like, what kind of a...(Cough, cough)...crazy vacuum cleaner is this?" Shaggy coughed. "It seems to be producing fog...(Cough, cough)...instead of picking up the dust!"

After a couple more coughs, Scooby managed to turn the vacuum cleaner off. However, once the dust settles, the duo were greeted by a shocking sight!

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed as he and Scooby found themselves face-to-face with the wax figure of the Phantom of the Opera.

Swiftly, Scooby turned the vacuum cleaner back on before tossing it into the wax Phantom's arms.

As the vacuum cleaner began producing dusty fog and impairing the wax Phantom's vision, Shaggy and Scooby prepared to make a run for it.

"Like, bye bye, weirdo!" Shaggy said before they took off running.

It took a couple of minutes for the wax Phantom to find the off switch and by the time the dust had settled, the duo were nowhere to be seen.

**(Velma and Daphne)**

Meanwhile, Jimmy and his boys emerged from the room with their guns drawn and looked around.

"Now where did the cause of that racket went?" The sixth man asked.

The six looked around but saw no one in interest. There were two additional wax figures, however.

"That's weird." Pierre said when he spotted the two additional wax figures. "I don't remember seeing those two wax figures over there."

"That nutty watchman must've added them here later." Jimmy said. "Anyways, he must've been the cause of that racket."

"I suppose so." Brian nodded. "Let's head in."

Once the six men were back into the room, the two "wax figures" came to life.

"That was a close call!" Velma, who was dressed as Marie Currie, remarked as she took off her disguise.

"Too close if you ask me." Daphne, who was dressed as Cleopatra, agreed as she took off her disguise.

However, as the girls got off the stand, Daphne find herself having difficulty lifting her left foot.

"Oh dear." She said when she saw that she had stepped on a small puddle of glue in the haste of hiding from the six thugs. "I'm stuck."

"Danger-Prone Daphne did it again." Velma said as she tried to help Daphne pull her left foot from the puddle of glue.

As Velma struggled to help Daphne get free, they inadvertently knock over another wax figure.

This time, the six thugs were out of the door as soon as the crash occurred, where they spotted the two girls struggling.

"Ah-hah!" Jimmy said as he and his men pulled their guns. "Spying on us, eh?"

The girls gasped when the six men approached them.

"Go find the others, Velma!" Daphne quickly said. "Don't worry about me!"

"Are you-?" Velma quickly asked before getting cut off by Daphne.

"Just go!" Daphne said. "Tell them I'm in trouble!"

Without hesitation, Velma quickly darted away before the six men could get to her.

Pierre was quick to take aim towards the retreating Velma, only for Jimmy to stop him.

"Don't shoot, vous abruit!" Jimmy said. "You wanna draw the cops?"

"Ah, desole." Pierre said before they surrounded Daphne.

"You sure got some nerve spying on us, Red." Jimmy said to Daphne. "You and your four-eyed friend."

"You guys should know that my friends will come looking for me when I go missing." Daphne said defiantly.

"Oh, is that so?" The second man asked. "Well, you can snoop around on us all you want, but our pals will sure take care of them."

"Make sure she is tied up and has her eyes covered so she won't be able to escape easily, boys." Jimmy ordered.

"Right, boss." The others nodded before they proceeded to get to work.

* * *

**Uh oh. Looks like Daphne is in big trouble right here.**

**What will happen next? Please read and review!**


	7. More chases

Chapter 7: More chases

**(Fred and Garfield)**

The duo managed to catch their breath as they lost the wax Dracula.

"That was sure a close call." Garfield remarked.

"Too close if you ask me." Fred agreed as they looked around. "We better go find the others."

Just then, the two boys heard a "Jinkies!" coming from down the hallway and looked forwards, in time to see Velma being chased by the wax Dracula.

"Freddie!" Velma exclaimed.

"Velma!" Fred said as he and Garfield joined her in the running. "What happened?"

"Daphne and I stumbled upon a gang of criminals taking their breaks and discussing their racketeering business in a room." Velma said. "They were indeed profiting from collecting the gate receipts, slot machines and pick-pocketing. However, Danger-Prone Daphne got us into this nice mess when she toppled over a wax figure and then she told me to go find you guys when those crooks caught us snooping around."

"Danger-prone?" Garfield asked as he raised an eyebrow.

"That's how we usually describe Daphne." Fred shrugged. "You know, with her tendency to get into trouble."

"I see." Garfield nodded thoughtfully before asking. "Did those crooks say anything about the missing colonel?"

"Yeah." Velma nodded. "They mentioned that he's locked away, though they didn't elaborate where exactly is he."

"Looks like we've got two rescues to take care of." Garfield said as they raced into a darker, dimly-lighted section of the stand. "Not to mention that we still have to see if your other two friends Shaggy and Scooby find anything."

However, when he made the later remark, Garfield noticed that he was only hearing himself running with lesser footsteps accompanying him.

When he reached an area that has better lighting, he stopped and saw that he was all by himself.

"Oh dear." He remarked. "Seems to me that I've split up with Fred and Velma while running through that dark area."

He then looked around before thinking, "I should go find the other two and see how they're holding up. Hopefully, they're not in trouble."

With that thought, Garfield went off to find Shaggy and Scooby.

**(Fred and Velma)**

Meanwhile, Fred and Velma emerged at another brighter section of the stand, still chased by the wax Dracula.

"Jinkies, I think we've lost Garfield!" Velma said when she noticed that the air cadet was nowhere to be seen.

"We must've split up in the dimly-lighted area." Fred said before seeing the wax figure chasing them. "And that wax Dracula is still after us!"

The duo swiftly sped up as the wax Dracula growled behind them.

Soon, they approached an intersection and quickly turned right. During this time, Fred saw a nearby door.

"Quick!" Fred said. "Let's go hide in here!"

"Right behind you, Freddie." Velma nodded as she followed Fred into the room behind the door in question.

As it turned out, the room in question was a small storage room and the wax Dracula grinned as he approached the door, which opened outwards from the room.

He picked up a nearby wax figure and placed it right in front of the closed door before turning away.

"This should take care of these two snoopers!" He remarked. "And now to find the other three and take care of them."

**(Shaggy and Scooby)**

In another part of the wax figure exhibition stand, Shaggy and Scooby were walking around.

"Like, all these wax figures sure are giving me the creeps, Scoob." Shaggy said. "Not to mention that we just lost that wax Phantom."

"Reah." Scooby agreed as he looked around. "Rey all look like rey can rome alive rin rany moment."

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "Better stay close, Scoob."

"Rokay." Scooby nodded before standing up on his back legs and sped up to Shaggy's back, walking right behind him.

Feeling Scooby close to his back, Shaggy turned to him. "Like, not that close!"

"Rorry." Scooby said. "Re-he-he-he-he-he!"

Just then, Shaggy stopped and he stretched his left arm out.

"Zoinks." He whispered. "There's the wax Phantom up ahead, Scooby. He's looking for us."

Sure enough. The wax Phantom was up ahead, looking around. At that moment, he hasn't spotted the duo yet.

"Rhat do we ro, Raggy?" Scooby asked.

Eying the nearby wax figures, Shaggy whispered, "I've got an idea. Come on!"

Soon, the wax Phantom walked down the hallway and walked by two wax figures. They were both Pilgrims emerging from the  _Mayflower_  ship and were accompanied by the following plaque plate that read: "McBaggy Rogers and McDougal Doo emerging from the  _Mayflower_ "

The wax Phantom growled but didn't say another word, and he soon carried on down the hallway in search for the two snoopers he was chasing earlier.

As the wax Phantom walked away, the "wax Pilgrims" rolled their eyes towards him and sighed in relief.

"Rat was a close rone." Scooby remarked.

"Yeah." Shaggy nodded. "Now we better get going before he comes back."

Scooby nodded as he and Shaggy step off from the display, but as they did so, Scooby accidentally tipped over a nearby wax figure.

"Scooby, watch out!" Shaggy exclaimed when he saw the wax figure tipping over.

Scooby turned, but it was too late. The wax figure toppled over, creating a loud "Crash!" and attracting the wax Phantom's attention.

"Zoinks! Here we go again." Shaggy said as the wax Phantom turned and raced towards them. "Gangway!"

Immediately, the duo took off before the wax Phantom reached them.

* * *

Meanwhile, back in their quarters, Jimmy and his men had finished their transactions, although their capture of Daphne reminded them that they need to be more vigilant.

"You know, boys, maybe we should go check up on Tim and Jeff." Jimmy suggested. "I can't see how that redhead and her four-eyed friend managed to sneak past them at the front."

"Perhaps they're taking care of their friends, Jimmy." Brian offered. "They could've split up and so occupy Tim and Jeff."

"Maybe." Jimmy nodded thoughtfully. "Either way. Pierre and Jacques, you go check on Tim and Jeff and see how they're doing."

The two francophone thugs got up and nodded.

"Pas de problem." Jacques, who was one of the three men dressed in brown, nodded. "We go check."

"Oui." Pierre nodded. "Let's go."

* * *

Meanwhile, the wax Phantom chased Shaggy and Scooby down the hallway, where at that moment they were fast approaching the wax Dracula.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy exclaimed. "Count Dracula!"

The wax Dracula growled and raised his arms menacingly. However, before Shaggy and Scooby thought of reversing direction, they saw a perpendicular hallway right in front of the wax Dracula.

Without hesitation, the duo quickly made a sharp left turn, which left the wax Phantom chasing them with little time to slow down before he crashed in the wax Dracula!

"Oh, I'm so sorry." The wax Phantom said. "You okay?"

"I'm fine." The wax Dracula nodded as they got up. "But let's go get those two snoopers you're chasing!"

"Right." The wax Phantom said before they took off after the duo.

In the same time, Shaggy and Scooby were still running and saw that the two live wax figures were far behind them.

"Like, we're losing those two creepy wax figures, Scoob!" Shaggy said.

"Reah." Scooby agreed. "Re-he-he-he-he-he!"

However, they didn't realize that up ahead of them, Garfield was walking and looking around.

The air cadet then turned and saw Shaggy and Scooby running towards him.

Before any of them could react, Shaggy and Scooby collided with Garfield and they ended up flying towards the end of the hallway.

"Oh." Garfield groaned as he got up. "I was looking for you guys, but wasn't expecting to run into you guys like this."

"Sorry." Shaggy said as he and Scooby got up. "Are you alright?"

"I'm fine." Garfield said. "I take it that you guys were running from those wax figures that were chasing you, eh?"

"Yeah, and they'll soon get us if we don't get out of here!" Shaggy said as they saw the two wax figures fast approaching them.

"C'est trop tard." A voice suddenly said.

The trio turned to the back and saw Jacques and Pierre approaching them with their guns drawn.

"Ah, nuts!" Garfield remarked.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy said as he and Scooby raised their arms.

"Nice try snooping around, copper." Pierre said as he and Jacques approached them with their guns drawn. "But now that's about to end!"

"And you too." Jacques added as he pointed his gun at Shaggy and Scooby. "You and that chien have some nerve snooping around."

As the two thugs were speaking, Scooby's tail started to rise up near a display light and started shaking.

Garfield, seeing the shadow cast by Scooby's tail below, suddenly said, "Look out!"

The two thugs looked towards where Garfield was looking at and saw what appeared to be a snake.

"Mon deau!" Pierre exclaimed as he leaped into Jacques' arms. "Un serpent!"

As the two thugs became distracted by the snake-like shadow, Shaggy, upon seeing Scooby's tail casting the snake-like shadow, said, "Like, attaboy, Scooby!"

"That was quick thinking, Scooby." Garfield added as the trio quickly took advantage of the situation and quickly ran off.

"That was only a shadow, vous abruit!" Jacques said crossly at his partner. "It was from that pesky chien, and now they're getting away!"

"Vite!" Pierre said as he got off Jacques' arms and prepared his gun. "Fire!"

However, just as the two thugs were about to fire towards the retreating trio, the wax Phantom and the wax Dracula approached the intersection and stopped and were about to make the right turn when the two thugs fired.

What followed was the two wax figures forced to duck downwards while the bullets only ended up blasting a wax figure that the retreating trio passed by. The two wax figures chasing the trio blinked before turning to their confederates.

"You knuckleheads!" The wax Phantom said. "Watch where you guys shoot!"

"And we were after those snoopers!" The wax Dracula added.

"Ah, desole." Jacques said as he and Pierre put down their guns. "We could try again."

"It's too late." The wax Phantom said when they saw that the trio were nowhere to be seen. "They've gotten away, and unless we mobilize the guys, it'll take a long while before we could find those three."

"Say, what were you guys doing earlier?" Pierre asked. "Jimmy and us caught two girls snooping around and captured one of them. Quite the pretty redhead, you know."

"Was that other girl wearing glasses?" The wax Phantom asked. "Because I have earlier locked her and a blonde-haired boy into a store room."

"Yes, that's her, and great work." Jacques nodded. "However, I would like to know how exactly did those meddling kids from the States know our game?"

"What do you mean those meddling kids?" The wax Dracula raised an eyebrow.

"Didn't you guys recognize that chien?" Pierre asked. "His dog tag read 'SD'."

The two live wax figures looked at each other. "Didn't notice."

"Either way, they're part of Mystères Associés, a group of meddling kids from south of the border." Jacques continued. "They were responsible for the capture of our American friend who helped taught you guys how to do disguises."

"You mean 'The Actor'?" The wax Phantom asked. "Holy cow."

"Exactement." Pierre nodded. "Those meddling kids sure know how to snoop around."

"Which means we've gotta go warn Jimmy and the others." The wax Dracula said.

"We'll do that." Pierre said. "You guys go find those three, especially that young copper. If they manage to raise the alarm, we're toast."

"Right." The two live wax figures nodded before they split up.

* * *

Meanwhile, the trio managed to catch their breath upon exiting the wax exhibition stand.

"I think we've lost them, guys." Garfield said.

"Yeah, I think so too." Shaggy said. "What should we do now?"

"I've got a feeling we're going to need to do a handful of rescues." Garfield said. "Velma managed to find us and she told Fred and I that Daphne has been captured by the criminals responsible for the slot machines and the colonel's disappearance. Then, that wax Dracula chased us, during which I split up with them. Given that the wax Dracula returned without them, it's safe to assume that there are two possibilities. Come with me."

Shaggy and Scooby looked at each other before the former asked, "What kind?"

"One: Either they managed to escape or made their getaway, which I don't believe is likely." Garfield said as they started walking away from the stand.

"Row come?" Scooby asked.

"Because if they managed to make their getaway, I'm sure they would've went to go find Flying Officer Lenny and send the alarm." Garfield said as they walked towards the air cadet recruitment stand before seeing Lenny and added, "However, he's still at the stand helping out. If Fred and Velma managed to find him and send the alarm, he wouldn't be at the stand."

"Right." Shaggy and Scooby both nodded. "So what's the second possibility?"

"They've been captured." Garfield replied simply just as one of the officers, who Garfield recognized as Flight Lieutenant Marvin Nash, spotted them and walked over.

"Mr. Wu." Nash said in greeting. "How was it?"

Earlier, Lenny conferred with Nash on their discoveries and what Garfield was going to do with Mystery Inc.

"As Flying Officer Lenny has suspected, sir." Garfield said as Lenny joined them. "Colonel Wilkinson is missing. Velma and Daphne managed to spot a gang of criminals doing transactions and discussing their racketeering business in a room, which not only included collecting gate receipts, which Wilkinson normally does, and the slot machines, but also pick-pocketing."

"Oh dear." Lenny remarked before noticing the absence of the others and added, "Say, where are the others?"

"They've been captured, sir." Garfield continued. "And those two live wax figures moving around in the stand chased us out."

"Not to mention that two of their confederates managed to ambush us before Scoob managed to scare them with his tail-as-a-snake gag." Shaggy added. "We've managed to get out in the nick of time."

"I see." Nash nodded thoughtfully before he and Lenny turned to confer with each other.

Then, Lenny turned to the trio and said, "Here's what we're going to do, boys: I'll mobilize the police while you boys see if you can rescue your friends and the missing colonel."

"Right." Nash said. "With that said, you boys have to be very vigilant. Those criminals are very dangerous, especially with that ambush you spoke about. Last thing we want is having to call in the paramedics for gunshot wounds."

"No problem, sir." Garfield said as he, Shaggy and Scooby nodded. "You can count on us."

"Good." Lenny said. "Now we better get to work. We're losing time."

"Yes, sir." Garfield nodded again before they split up and get down to work.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	8. Three rescues

Chapter 8: Three rescues

Meanwhile at their quarters, Pierre and Jacques wasted no time telling Jimmy and the others about the encounter.

"So you boys are telling us that those snoopers were the ones that were responsible for sending Big Bob into the big house in the States?" Jimmy asked.

"Exactement." Pierre replied.

"I sure don't like the sound of this, Jimmy." The man in orange said.

"Yeah." The other man in brown agreed. "How did those meddling kids know our game?"

"And how exactly did that copper knew to search this stand?" Pierre asked nervously.

"I honestly don't know, but we're going to have to move fast, boys." Jimmy said. "You boys go set up a series of holdups in the fair while Brian stays with me to gather up the dough we've made. Then, we all make the split before the heat is onto us."

"Sounds good." Jacques nodded. "We better get moving."

* * *

At the front entrance to the wax figure exhibition stand, Shaggy, Scooby and Garfield looked through the entrance.

"So, what's the plan?" Shaggy asked Garfield.

"We're going to have to figure out a way to turn the tables against those two live 'wax figures'." Garfield said. "And I just have the idea on how."

He then proceeded to explain his plan to Shaggy and Scooby, who leaned in to listen closely to his plan before nodding.

"Like, the sooner we get this done and find the others, the better." Shaggy said after the detailing of the plan. "Scoob and I are starving and I'm sure the Fred and the girls are, too."

"Not just you guys, mate." Garfield said. "I haven't had my dinner yet, so we'd better get moving."

* * *

Meanwhile, Fred and Velma found themselves locked inside the small storage room and have been trying to force the door open with no success.

"It's no use, Freddie." Velma said after Fred's latest attempt to ram the door down. "We're locked in!"

"There's got to be a way for us to get out." Fred said as he looked around. "If only that air vent above is large enough for us to fit through."

"Looks like our only hope is that Shaggy, Scooby and Garfield are alright." Velma said.

"As you said before, Velms." Fred said. "'If it's up to Shag and Scoob, boy are we in some fine mess.'"

"Nice of you to quote Laurel and Hardy, Freddie." Velma said. "I wonder what will it be like if they're visiting the fair?"

"One thing for sure, Velma:" Fred said before he proceeded to imitate Hardy. "'Well, Stanley, here's another  _fine_ mess you've gotten us into!'"

"'But Ollie, I was only tryin' to help in winnin' the prize.'" Velma replied as she imitated Laurel, particularly with the way he scratched his head.

"'By hitting my head on the test-your-strength machine and causing it to topple over into the neighbouring stand?'" Fred asked as he imitated Hardy.

"'I'm sorry, Ollie.'" Velma replied as she imitated Laurel. "'I didn't know you were examining it.'"

Right outside the small storage room, two familiar-looking wax figures overheard the skit between Fred and Velma and turned to each other.

"There we go again, Stanley." The wax figure of Hardy said. "Just how difficult is it for others to realize that I say ' _nice_  mess', not 'fine mess' whenever you got me into some nice mess?"

"What do you mean, Ollie?" The wax figure of Laurel asked. "Don't you always say, 'Well, here's another fine mess you've gotten me into!'?"

"I have nothing to say." The wax Hardy sighed, resting his case.

"Anyways, there's got to be someway for us to let someone passing by know that we're trapped in here." Fred said.

"Maybe tapping on the door could help." Velma offered.

"Maybe." Fred said.

* * *

In another section of the wax figure exhibition stand, the wax Dracula and the wax Phantom were patrolling the area.

"Be on the lookout for those three snoopers." The wax Phantom said. "I've got a feeling they've managed to get away and squeal to someone and the cops must be onto us."

"Not to mention that they must be searching for their friends as well." The wax Dracula nodded.

The wax Dracula was about to continue when they heard a noise coming from around the corner.

"Shhh!" The wax Phantom stopped his confederate. "Listen! Someone's coming!"

The two wax figures turned and peeked around the nearby corner and saw Shaggy and Scooby walking towards them.

"Like, remind me again Scoob." Shaggy said as they walked. "How did we got talked into doing this?"

"Ri don't remember." Scooby replied as he looked around.

"Me neither." Shaggy said. "But anyways, let's get this over with."

Scooby nodded as they continued on, whistling as they went.

"It's two of the snoopers!" The wax Dracula said. "That young copper accompanying them must have rushed out to raise the alarm and tip off the cops!"

"Well, what are we waiting for?" The wax Phantom asked. "Get them!"

Shaggy and Scooby were about to reach the intersection when the two live wax figures jumped in front of them and growled menacingly.

"Like, here we go again, Scoob." Shaggy said. "Gangway!"

"Yow!" Scooby exclaimed as he and Shaggy quickly took off, followed closely by the two wax figures.

The two wax figures chased the duo to a section with five doors on both sides of the corridor, and the duo quickly took the first door on the left, followed closely by the two wax figures.

Soon, Shaggy and Scooby emerged from the third door on the left and raced across the hallway while the two wax figures emerged from the fifth door.

A split second later, Shaggy and Scooby had split up, with the former emerging from the second door on the right and the latter emerging from the fifth door on the right, while the two wax figures, too, have split up, with the wax Dracula emerging from the third door on the right and the wax Phantom taking the fourth door.

The whole scene soon became mixed up as the parties involved in the chase simultaneously emerged from a random door and raced across the hallway at random.

Soon, Shaggy and Scooby regrouped and took advantage of the confusing situation to leave the scene as the two wax figures continued their running around, unaware that their prey has snuck off.

It didn't take long for the two wax figures to realize that Shaggy and Scooby were gone, and they quickly stopped the running around and resumed the chase.

By this point, Shaggy and Scooby have joined Garfield in getting the rope ready in the Hall of the Prime Ministers section of the exhibition stand, where they were standing near the wax figure of the current Prime Minister: The Right Honourable Pierre Elliot Trudeau.

"On the count of three, we pull the rope, guys." Garfield said as he held onto one end of the rope with Shaggy and Scooby grabbing onto the other end at the other side of the corridor.

"Right." Shaggy nodded as they peeked through the corridor and saw the two wax figures racing towards their direction.

"One..." Garfield said as the two wax figures raced past the wax figure of Sir John A. Macdonald, the first Prime Minister of Canada.

"Two..." Shaggy said as the two wax figures raced past the wax figure of Sir Wilfrid Laurier, the seventh Prime Minister.

"Ree!" Scooby exclaimed just as the two wax figures approached them and they pulled the rope, which caused the two wax figures to trip over as soon as they reached the trio.

Upon tripping over the rope, the two wax figures started rolling down the corridor as the trio looked on.

The trio soon shut their eyes just as the two live wax figures crashed into something at the end of the corridor.

When they opened their eyes, they saw that the two live wax figures has crashed into two wax figures holding frying pans!

Conveniently, the frying pans held by the two wax figures fell and hit the two down live wax figures both in the heads with a loud "BANG!" as the trio rushed over.

"Now to see who was behind these two 'wax figures' that has been causing this whole racket." Garfield said as he, Shaggy and Scooby removed the disguises of the two live wax figures.

Behind the makeup, mask and costumes were two sinister-looking faces that Garfield recognized.

"Just as I thought!" Garfield said. "Angus Scheer, a second-story burglar who's wanted under a Canada-wide arrest warrant, and his confederate James Kenny, who's wanted in Alberta for extortion."

"Bah!" Scheer, who was revealed to be behind the disguise of the wax Phantom, muttered. "You blasted meddlers ruined it!"

"And we're going to keep ruining things for you guys if you don't tell us what you have done to Fred and the girls!" Shaggy said as Scooby growled angrily at the two crooks. "Where's Daphne? And what have you done to Fred and Velma?"

"We're not speaking!" Kenny spat. "You can do whatever you want, but we're not talking! You kids should've minded your own business in the first place!"

"Huh." Garfield folded his arms. "Blaming others for your own foul-ups. Can't say I'm surprised."

Just then, they heard tapping coming from somewhere nearby.

"I suppose we don't need you boys to say a word." Garfield said as he went over to investigate the tapping.

It originated from behind the wax figure of Harpo Marx, which was situated right beside the wax figures of Laurel and Hardy.

Listening carefully, he noted that the tapping came from a wall behind the wax Harpo Marx.

He then decided to knock on the wall, only to realize that it was actually a door.

"Who's there?" A voice coming from behind the door asked.

"It's me." Garfield replied. "Is that you, Fred?"

"Yeah." Fred replied. "And Velma's with me."

"Someone managed to lock or block the door leading to the room we're in." Velma added. "We can't get out!"

"Must be this wax figure blocking the door." Garfield said. "I'll have it removed in a jiffy!"

* * *

A short while later, Fred and Velma were freed and regrouped with Shaggy, Scooby and Garfield as they kept an eye on their two prisoners.

"Great work, guys." Fred said as he and Velma saw the captured and unmasked wax Phantom and wax Dracula.

"Yeah, but don't forget about the others that might be running around, guys." Velma said. "Not to mention that Daphne and the colonel are still missing."

"And when their leader Jimmy knows that the police are mobilizing, no doubt he'll try to cut his losses by getting his men to get to work fast before making their getaway." Garfield added.

"Given that you mentioned that their gang has been pick-pocketing in the fair, Velma, it means that it shouldn't be a surprise that his gang may next go for staging holdups in the fair." Fred offered.

"Like, sounds like we're going to have to move fast." Shaggy said.

Before he could continue, the group heard muffling coming from nearby.

"Say, did anyone hear that?" Velma asked.

Scooby's ears perked up as he tried to pinpoint the source of the muffling.

"Rover there." Scooby said when he managed to pinpoint the source as he rushed over to the source.

"Like, if you ask me, it's gotta be Daph." Shaggy said when he recognized the muffling as it became more pronounced.

"We'll soon find out." Garfield said as Fred and Velma opted to stay behind to keep an eye on their two prisoners.

Scooby led Shaggy and Garfield to a door, where upon opening it, they spotted Daphne tied up and gagged, and she was accompanied by a man laying on a makeshift bed.

"Daphne!" Shaggy exclaimed as they rushed into the room.

Swiftly, the trio moved to remove the gag and untie Daphne.

"Boy, am I glad to see you guys." Daphne said.

"Like, are you alright?" Shaggy asked.

"I'm okay, Shaggy." Daphne said before gesturing towards the man and added, "But I don't think that man on the bed is."

Scooby and Garfield went to check on the man.

"You mean, Lieutenant Colonel Paul Wilkinson." Garfield said when he recognized the unconscious man before proceeding to examine him.

It didn't take long for Garfield to note that Wilkinson has a pulse and is breathing, although his heartbeat is rather slow and his breathing sounded deep.

"He needs medical attention." Garfield declared upon examining the colonel. "He's been drugged."

"By those awful men, no doubt." Daphne said.

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	9. A holdup

Chapter 9: A holdup

It didn't take long for Garfield to go fetch Flight Lieutenant Nash and another officer at the air cadet recruitment stand while Shaggy further examined the colonel, and upon arrival, the two air force officers agreed to get medical help for the colonel and carried him away.

"Now that we've located the missing colonel, may I suggest that we go grab something to eat?" Shaggy asked as Wilkinson was carried away.

"That will be great, except that we've got another thing on our hands." Garfield said.

"Rhat's that?" Scooby asked.

"Don't you guys remember that we've got a gang of racketeers running loose in the fair?" Velma asked.

"Oh yes, I know that." Shaggy said.

It was then that Garfield looked towards a certain direction and spotted a holdup near one of the rides before saying, "Say, there's a holdup right there, guys!"

"No doubt that Jimmy has told his men to get to work fast." Velma said when she recognized the four men staging the holdup in question.

"And I suppose it's safe to say that Jimmy and Colonel Wilkinson's imposter are still in their hideout." Daphne assumed.

"We're going to have to split up, gang." Fred decided. "The girls and I will head back in to check and see if our friend Jimmy is still in his hideout. Meanwhile, Shag, Scoob, you guys and Garfield go and try to stop that holdup."

It was Scooby who spotted a nearby stand with baseballs and he tugged Shaggy's shirt, "Rey Raggy."

"Huh?" Shaggy asked as he and Garfield both turned around to face Scooby.

Scooby's tail pointed at the baseballs in the stand, and the two boys nodded.

"Like, great thinking, Scoob." Shaggy said as Garfield walked closer to the stand in question and saw the man glaring at the group staging the holdups.

Swiftly, he took out a five-dollar bill from his wallet and placed it on the counter of the stand.

"My friends and I will like to use this stack of baseballs, sir." He said to the man.

"Be my guest." The man said. "Those rascals staging the holdup over there are going to pay dearly for what they did to me earlier."

"I take it that they've messed with your stand, mister?" Velma asked.

"You can say that." The man nodded. "I'd like to use the balls on them myself, but my arms aren't as strong as they used to be for the throws to be effective."

"Are the balls...?" Garfield was about to ask before the man answered his question.

"Don't worry, pal." He said. "These balls are mainly cork and rubber, so they can at most knock people out but not land one in the hospital."

"Ah, okay." Garfield nodded as he tipped his cap. "Thank you, sir."

After Garfield obtained the balls, Fred said, "Okay, gang. Let's get to work."

"Right." Everyone else nodded before they proceeded to split up.

* * *

At that same time, Jimmy's men began staging a series of daring holdups in the fair.

In the latest holdup where the men were holding up a couple of pensioners, Jacques was about to order the pensioners to pay up when suddenly, one of his pals looked really foolish before slumping to the ground.

"Okay, let's..." Jacques was about to say when he noticed his pal slumping to the ground before saying, "...say, what's the matter with Joey?"

In a matter of speaking, he pretty much answered his own question when a baseball appeared out of nowhere and hit him in the head!

The two other men accompanying Jacques and Joey in staging the holdup turned towards the source of the baseballs that knocked their pals out and gasped.

"It's that young copper!" Pierre exclaimed when he spotted Shaggy, Scooby and Garfield armed with baseballs. "And that meddling kid and that chien!"

"Ah, bonjour monsieur." Garfield said loudly to the two remaining men. "Just some practice to keep my arm in trim."

The man accompanying Pierre exclaimed, "Let's get out of here!"

However, before the duo could take off, Shaggy and Scooby both threw their balls at them, hitting the men with precise strikes!

"Like, I don't think so!" Shaggy said as the two men slumped to the ground.

"Strike three!" Garfield exclaimed as they rushed over to the four racketeers, imitating a baseball umpire calling a strike. "You four are out!"

As Shaggy and Scooby moved to tie up the four unconscious racketeers, Garfield turned to the pensioners.

"Are you folks alright?" Garfield asked in concern.

"Oh, we're alright, and...oh, my word!" The first pensioner was speaking when she recognized Garfield. "Garfield! It's been a while!"

"Miss Stephenson!" Garfield's eyes brightened as he recognized Margaret Stephenson, one of the people he had helped out in the Bruce Stevenson case two years ago. "Didn't recognize you for a brief moment! How are you doing?"

"I'm doing alright." Margaret said as she shared a hug with Garfield. "I didn't even realize that you're in the air cadets."

"Now you know." Garfield smiled. "In case you're wondering, Flight Lieutenant Nash, who helped you and your family in winning the settlement of the Bruce Stevenson estate two years ago, is one of the officers in my squadron."

"Ah, so you're the young gentleman that everyone has told me about." The elderly lady accompanying Margaret said when she squinted her eyes at Garfield. "A pleasure in meeting you finally in person."

"Ah, Mrs. Janet Wagner, I presume?" Garfield asked as he turned to the lady.

"Yes, that's me, young man." Janet nodded as she gave Garfield a firm handshake. "The girls told me about how you were responsible for the recovery of Cousin Bruce's latest will that rightfully awarded his sizable estate to us instead of letting those uppity Ewell women hoarding all of it. I've always knew that Cousin Bruce had wrote another will when word has it that he wrote a will that awarded his estate to the Ewells."

"You knew it?" Garfield raised an eyebrow.

"He visited me once not long after moving into the Ewells." Janet said. "I saw him holding an envelope with documents, and he told me how he had wrote another will under the noses of those witches, where he also reassured me that it will take care of me and the other more-deserving relatives and friends."

"Anyways, how are the twins?" Garfield turned to Margaret.

"They're doing alright, thanks to you." Margaret smiled. "They're starting Grade 2 in the upcoming school year."

"And what of the Brooks?" Garfield asked.

"Oh, Barbara has began her piano lessons in the Royal Conservatory of Music this past September." Janet said. "She's quite the talented pianist, you know, and she actually encountered a major piano star while in Toronto."

"Oh really?" Garfield said. "Is that piano star Glenn Gould, famous for his 1955 recording of Bach's  _Goldberg Variations_?"

"You guessed it." Margaret said. "You know your classical music."

"Ah, I listen to CBC Radio 2 frequently and watched its television programs on classical music." Garfield said. "Plus, I play the violin and piano."

"I see." Janet nodded just as Shaggy and Scooby went to join the conversation.

"Are those racketeers tied up?" Garfield asked.

"Yep." Shaggy nodded. "We sure gave them the strikes!"

"Reah!" Scooby agreed. "Re-he-he-he-he-he!"

"Ah, are these two your friends, Garfield?" Margaret asked.

"Well, technically, we only got acquainted a few hours ago." Garfield said. "They are actually visiting from the States and decided to visit the fair when they and their friends encountered live wax figures scaring them away at the wax figure exhibition stand."

"Like, except that we actually got racketeers disguising themselves as the live wax figures to scare away suspicious people so they can operate their illegal scheme in the fair." Shaggy pointed out.

"Ah, no wonder we spotted the slot machines over there." Janet huffed as she gestured towards the stand in question. "Slot machines and gambling are roots of evil and should be banned or at least kept out of places where minors like Nick and Nicole frequent."

"Anyways, I see that you boys are in a rush." Margaret remarked. "No doubt you're working to stop those racketeers."

"Indeed we are." Garfield said. "Are the twins at the fair?"

"Yes." Janet nodded. "Together with Jessica, the Stevenson brothers and the Brooks."

"Ah, okay." Garfield said. "When you find them, tell them to go somewhere safe. No doubt that those racketeers are bent on causing trouble around here, and I don't want those twins to get hurt as a result of that."

"Of course." Janet said as she and Margaret nodded before they headed off.

After Margaret and Janet had left, Shaggy turned to Garfield.

"Who were those two ladies, Garfield?" Shaggy asked. "Like, they're friends of yours?"

"Let's just say I played my role in the efforts helping them out in an estate-settlement case two years ago." Garfield said. "I'll explain the rest once we caged all those racketeers."

"Okay, then." Shaggy said as Scooby nodded before the trio rushed off to find the other racketeers.

* * *

Meanwhile, Fred and the girls were back in the wax figure exhibition stand when they heard Jimmy speaking to Brian.

"Wait, are you telling me that those meddling kids escaped with Wilkinson?" Brian asked as the trio peeked through the opened door.

"That's right." Jimmy nodded urgently. "Tim and Jeff told me that they've managed to find their friends and Wilkinson and has sounded the alarm for the latter. It means we're going to have to get out of here now."

Upon hearing the remarks, Fred and the girls turned and looked at each other.

"Any ideas on how to stop them, Freddie?" Daphne asked.

Fred peeked in as Jimmy and Brian started gathering what amount of money they could, where his eyes settled onto the pistol on the table.

As the two crooks prepared to make their getaway, Jimmy reached for his pistol on the table, only for another hand to reach over and grab his hand.

"Not so fast!" A voice suddenly said.

"Eh?" Jimmy asked as he looked up, finding himself face to face with Fred, who had reached over and prevented him from taking the pistol.

"You guys do realize that guns are dangerous, eh?" Velma asked as she and Daphne joined Fred while Jimmy retreated.

"You!" Brian exclaimed as he pulled his gun out.

Seeing the gun, the girls quickly pulled Fred back as Brian aimed towards them.

"Bad plan, Freddie." Velma said as Brian shoot at them and barely missed.

"Let's get out of here!" Brian said as he tugged Jimmy and the two men raced out.

Seeing the two retreating figures making their getaway through the rear door, Fred said, "We've got to stop them!"

* * *

**Please read and review!**


	10. Showdown and end of the ride

Chapter 10: Showdown and end of the ride

Meanwhile, Shaggy, Scooby and Garfield were walking around the fair when they spotted another holdup near the airplane ride.

"Zoinks!" Shaggy said. "There's another holdup over there, Garfield."

"Yes, I see that." Garfield nodded. "And there's a huge crowd near them. By the time we get through, those crooks will be alerted to our presence from the commotion."

"Then, what should we do?" Shaggy asked.

It was Scooby who figured out what they should do.

"Re rairplane ride!" Scooby barked before leaping away.

"Scooby, wait!" Shaggy exclaimed.

However, before Shaggy could stop the Great Dane, Scooby already leaped towards the airplane ride and grabbed onto the horizontal stabilizers of one of the empty airplanes rides.

"Looks like Scooby just answered your question, Shaggy." Garfield said. "Come on!"

"Like, the fencing and some swinging should do the trick!" Shaggy said before he jumped and grabbed onto the top of the fence in front of them.

Immediately, with the momentum on their side, the two boys swung upwards and immediately grabbed onto the horizontal stabilizers of the additional airplane rides.

"Good thing the ride's getting started." Garfield remarked as the ride started turning.

As the ride began, the planes started to go around and around with the boys and Scooby clinging on fast.

A few minutes later, Garfield was the first to let go as he abruptly releases his grip, and the centrifugal force sent him flying in the air and over the crowd like a fighter jet.

Then, as fast as a rock, he dropped down and landed right on the backs of one of the holdup men!

"Hello!" He said as he stuck the two men, who were knocked down onto the ground by his feet. "Surprised to have company?"

"It's that young copper Jimmy told us about!" The other two holdup men exclaimed when they saw Garfield knocking down their two confederates.

As quick as foxes, the two men turned their attention towards Garfield with their guns drawn.

However, just then, Shaggy and Scooby came crashing down and knocked down the two men with their feet.

"Be good and you boys will only get hit once!" Garfield said as the two holdup men were knocked down onto the ground.

"Like, wow!" Shaggy said as he looked at Garfield. "I guess someone's also the swingingest in their school."

"Not exactly." Garfield said as he turned to Shaggy and Scooby. "I've been practicing martial arts since I was young. Like the type of moves Bruce Lee does and some bit of gymnasium, though I'm not on the school's gymnasium team."

"Oh." Shaggy said as they tied up the knocked down holdup men. "At least we've stopped these holdup crooks."

"Indeed." Garfield nodded. "Though we still have yet to find the big fish involved in this racket."

"Like, hopefully, Fred and the girls are taking care of that loose end." Shaggy remarked.

Just then, they heard some hysterics and some pushing and shoving from the crowd.

The trio turned towards the source of the hysterics, in time to see Brian and Jimmy pushing their way through the crowd.

"Out of the way!" Jimmy said as he shoved a bystander out of the way.

Sensing something suspicious about the two men, Scooby started to growl just as Garfield folded his arms and stood right in Jimmy's way.

"Going somewhere?" Garfield asked as Shaggy followed suit.

The sight of Garfield stopped the two crooks in their tracks, and Brian quickly produced his gun.

"Move out of the way, copper!" Brian said as he aimed his gun at Garfield. "D-don't make us use this gun on you!"

"Ah, a gun." Garfield replied nonchalantly. "Don't you realize that guns are dangerous when in the wrong hands?"

Before the crooks could do anything, Garfield suddenly grabbed the gun, pointed its nozzle upwards towards the sky.

In the brief struggle, the nearby witnesses can hear several fast-sounding clicks and a few seconds later, Brian found himself holding parts of what used to be part of his gun.

Brian and Jimmy looked at Garfield in disbelief as the air cadet held the three bullets that were loaded in Brian's gun, together with a handful of critical parts of what used to be the weapon.

"Like, the fastest gun disassembler in the West." Shaggy remarked in surprise.

"And this is going to make you think twice before considering pulling a dangerous weapon like that in a place frequented by young kids." Garfield added.

In a split second, Fred and the girls rushed over to the crowd, in time to see Jimmy and Brian hitting the ground not long after hearing two fistpunches.

"Jinkies!" Velma remarked as they watched the two racketeers hitting the ground.

"Are you guys alright?" Fred asked as Garfield, Shaggy and Scooby joined them.

"Like, we're alright, Fred." Shaggy said as he and Garfield straightened their clothes with Scooby slightly adjusting his collar. "And Garfield just disassembled a gun within seconds, guys."

"Disassembled a gun?" Daphne asked.

"How did you do that, Garfield?" Fred asked as he turned to Garfield.

"Let's just say that my cadet training also covers the basics on use of firearms, which includes assembling and disassembling the weapons." Garfield winked. "Takes plenty of practice."

"I suppose you need to have good reflexes as well, huh?" Daphne asked.

"That's right." Garfield nodded. "You don't want to disassemble a gun and end up dropping the parts onto the ground as you do so. As I said, it takes plenty of practice."

"And I'll bet that it will take plenty of practice for you to get out of this!" A voice suddenly said, and Daphne felt something tube-like poking her in the back.

The group gasped as they turned towards the source of the voice. It was Scheer and Kenny, with the latter pointing his gun right at Daphne's back.

"You blasted meddling kids may have gotten the others, including Jimmy." Scheer sneered, and Garfield can swear that the man looked like a complete psycho.

"But we've got your friend here." Kenny said as he tugged Daphne. "And one false move, this redhead will be having lead for supper!"

"I'll cover you, James." Scheer said to Kenny as he, too, draw his weapon. "You get out of here and be sure to properly use the girl as a shield."

"Right." Kenny nodded before grabbing Daphne, tied her up and made his getaway while the gang looked on, unsure what to do.

As Kenny forced Daphne to come with him, the redhead suddenly headbutted the crook, causing him to drop the gun as he winced in pain.

"I don't think so." She said defiantly.

As Scheer rushed to Kenny's aid, the gang quickly seized their chance.

"Oh no you don't!" Fred said as he pulled Scheer back.

In the struggle, the butt of Scheer's gun ended up hitting Daphne on the head.

"Let go of me!" Scheer exclaimed as he tried to force Fred to let go.

"Not a chance, mister." Velma said as she joined Fred in tugging the obviously-dangerous man.

"I'm getting out of here!" Kenny exclaimed as he picked up an unconscious Daphne. "This place ain't big enough for me and those meddling kids!"

He then attempted to reach for his gun, only for Scooby to step on the weapon as he growled viciously at the crook.

"Oh, beat it, mutt!" Kenny said as he gave Scooby a kick.

As Scooby rubbed his nose, Shaggy and Garfield went to him.

"You alright, Scoob?" Shaggy asked.

"Ri'm okay." Scooby said. "But Ri won't be in re minute if rat crook gets away with Raphne."

"Let's go get him!" Garfield said, and the trio quickly took off after the fleeing crook as Fred and Velma struggled with Scheer.

Seeing the trio after him, Kenny looked around before eying the roller coaster ride nearby and raced over.

The attendant, upon seeing Kenny dragging a tied-up Daphne, immediately stopped.

"Sorry mister." He said. "The ride's closed!"

"Not just yet if I can help it." Kenny growled as he shoved the attendant out of the way and hopped onto the front car.

As quick as a fox, he placed Daphne on a seat before taking his seat in front of her before the buzz bars shifted into lock position.

In that same time, the attendant ended up hitting the lever that started the roller coaster ride after being shoved out of the way by Kenny.

The roller coaster ride started to pull out of the platform just as Shaggy, Scooby and Garfield were arriving.

Knowing that they can't let Kenny get away, Shaggy and Scooby quickly rushed towards the last car and jumped in as Garfield looked around.

Spotting the nearby Ferris Wheel, Garfield had an idea and rushed over.

As the roller coaster started to slowly climb up the incline, Shaggy and Scooby crawled their way towards the front car where Kenny is at.

"Like, we've got to get Daphne out of here before that crook attempts to do more harm, Scoob." Shaggy said.

"Right." Scooby nodded as they crawled into the row of seats on the second last car.

It was then that the roller coaster reached the peak of the incline and started accelerating as it flew down the tracks.

"Woah!" Shaggy exclaimed as he and Scooby held onto the buzz bar.

In the same time, Garfield managed to climb onto an ascending car of the Ferris Wheel and was reaching its highest point when he spotted Shaggy and Scooby struggling to reach the middle car with the roller coaster waving up and down on the tracks.

"這最好是我最後一次做這種危險的動作。" (This better be the last time I do a dangerous move like this.) He thought to himself before leaping towards the roller coaster.

Fortunately, he was able to catch onto the nearby supporting column and pause his fall without pulling a muscle in his arms.

Looking down towards the section of track the roller coaster is about to pass through, Garfield waited patiently.

By that point, Shaggy and Scooby managed to reach the second car of the roller coaster.

Kenny was still looking around towards the front when Scooby tapped him on the shoulder.

Turning, he was shocked to see the Great Dane growling at him!

"Get away from me!" Kenny exclaimed as he pulled his gun.

However, the gun wasn't enough to scare a growling Scooby as he leaped onto him.

In the ensuing struggle, Kenny's gun went off. The bullet ended up piercing through the setting sun, piercing a hole as it went.

It was also that moment that Kenny realized that he only had one bullet left in his gun.

"You blasted mutt!" Kenny said as he caught a glimpse of Shaggy trying to untie Daphne before shoving Scooby aside and added, "Perhaps this should teach you."

He then aimed his gun towards Shaggy. However, before he could pull the trigger, something, or rather, someone, dropped onto him.

"You've forgotten about me, mister!" Garfield said as he dropped onto Kenny.

"Oph!" Kenny exclaimed as his fired shot ended up in the air.

A bite can be heard and Kenny exclaimed in pain as he dropped his gun.

"You sure have forgotten how dangerous dogs can be when provoked, mister." Garfield said.

Eventually, the roller coaster ride returned to the platform and Scooby threw Kenny off the stopping ride.

"Ris is end of the ride for rou, Renny." Scooby said.

"Are you alright, Daphne?" Garfield added as Shaggy managed to untie the redhead.

"Thanks to you guys." Daphne said as she rubbed her wrists. "Though I'm sure Mr. Kenny there isn't."

"Indeed." Garfield nodded as they eyed Kenny as he laid on the floor, groaning from the pain.

* * *

**One more chapter to go, folks! Please read and review!**


	11. The arrest and the end

Chapter 11: The arrest and the end

A short while later, the police were at the scene with the gang of racketeers handcuffed. Among the handcuffed men were Scheer and Kenny, who were each restrained by two constables.

In addition to the gang and Garfield, Flight Lieutenant Nash was also at the scene not long after returning from the General Hospital.

"We have to hand it to you kids for helping us capture one of the most elusive gambling racketeers in Canada." Lenny said to the gang after the police searched through the stands and confiscated the money Jimmy's gang were making from their racket, with the gang also providing their resumes on the events that just occurred.

"I take it that these men are all wanted criminals, eh?" Fred asked Lenny.

"That's right." Lenny nodded. "Angus Scheer and James Kenny, both of whom went by many aliases and has managed to elude capture, are the actual masterminds behind the whole plot."

"So Jimmy is their second-in-command?" Velma asked as she gestured towards Jimmy.

"That's right, along with Bob James here." Lenny said as he gestured towards the second-story burglar wanted in Toronto. "James 'Jimmy' Jean here, like Kenny, is also subjected to an Alberta arrest warrant for extortion."

"These racketeers also happened to be acquainted with the notorious con man Robert 'Big Bob' Oakley, who is a master of disguise that was wanted in seven states down in the States for burglary, fraud and extortion." The police inspector added with Lenny nodding in agreement.

"Like, you don't say." Shaggy said as they gang recognized the con man's name.

Seeing the look of recognition on their faces, Lenny turned to Fred.

"You know that con man?" Lenny raised an eyebrow.

"As a matter a fact, we do, Flying Officer." Fred said. "In fact, we were the ones responsible for the capture of him and his three henchmen this past November."

The police inspector and Lenny both arched their eyebrows at the remark.

"He has the alias of 'The Actor'." Velma added. "We were planning to have a picnic one late afternoon before coming upon this fortune teller along the way, and she told us about the haunted castle. So naturally, being the people curious about haunting sights and strange going-ons, we decided to investigate."

"Which then brought us onto collision courses with Dracula, the Mummy and Frankenstein's Monster." Daphne said.

"Who were actually henchmen Oakley has positioned in the castle to scare away suspicious people so they can search around the castle for treasure." Shaggy said. "Like, and I thought that they did a great job scaring others."

"Anyways, as it turned out, that fortune teller was in fact Oakley in disguise." Fred added. "No doubt he disguised himself as the fortune teller to keep people away, in addition to signalling his henchmen at the castle to do their work in scaring us off."

"In the end, it was Scooby who managed to give chase before causing Oakley to trip over, which was when the sheriff's arrived after receiving a phone call from the castle's caretaker."

"Wow." The inspector remarked. "You kids sure know your stuff on detective work and wanted criminals."

"Just like Mr. Wu here." Lenny added. "He's been pretty useful in providing input on police cases in his volunteering at the police force."

"Anyways, if it weren't for you kids, then these elusive racketeers would've caused more trouble and succeeded in scamming the Central Canada Exhibition Association out of its profits." The inspector said.

"Ah, there's no need to thank us, Inspector." Garfield waved his hand. "We're just doing what is supposed to be done. And speaking of which, how's Lieutenant Colonel Wilkinson?"

"His condition is stable." Nash said. "The doctors at the General Hospital are monitoring his condition, but last I heard, I don't think there are going to be complications."

"Ah, that's good to hear." Fred nodded.

"Anyways, I suppose we should get moving in getting these men booked." The inspector said. "Based on what they did at the fair and your testimonies, in addition to a handful of them the subject of arrest warrants from other parts of Canada, it is very likely that they'll be locked away for a long period of time."

"Indeed they should." Lenny nodded as the police mobilized.

As the criminals were hauled away, some can be heard muttering or grumbling under their breaths.

"And I would've gotten away with it, too, if it weren't for those meddling..." Scheer can be heard saying before his voice was cut off by the police cruiser door closing.

* * *

After the police had left, the group decided to head out of the fair.

"It's almost 6:30." Garfield said as he checked his watch. "There's a good restaurant further up Bank Street and just a few blocks away from here."

"Oh, goodie." Daphne said. "I'm starving from all of our moving around."

"Like, you don't say, Daph." Shaggy agreed as they followed Garfield.

It didn't take long for the gang to reach Bank Street and turn right, heading into the Glebe neighbourhood. Along the way, a Bank Street Interurban streetcar passed by them.

"Interurbans." Velma remarked when they spotted the streetcar. "I didn't think these were common after the 1950s with the rise in highways and automobiles."

"Yeah." Garfield replied. "I suppose Ottawa has been a slow adapter in adapting automobile-centred mode of transport in comparison to other North American cities."

"Anyways, what's this Upper Canada Village that this streetcar is heading for?" Fred asked as he gestured towards the southbound interurban.

"Oh, it's a heritage park over in Morrisburg, which is about an hour south of Ottawa right on the coast of the St. Lawrence Seaway." Garfield explained. "It consists of live exhibitions that depicts life in Upper Canada in the early 19th century before Confederation in 1867."

"Is that Confederation event you speak of similar to the Declaration of Independence down in the States in 1776, Garfield?" Daphne asked.

"Well, not exactly." Garfield said. "It's more like that the United Province of Canada, which is the British colony consisting of modern-day Quebec and Ontario, in addition to the separate British colonies of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia, joining together to form a federal, national union that is semi-independent from Britain but sharing the monarch. We gradually gained more independence from Britain in the past few decades, though as of now, any changes to our constitution still requires approval from the British Parliament."

"Ah, I see." The gang all nodded understandingly. It was then that they arrived at the restaurant Garfield was heading for.

As they entered the restaurant and took their seats at a table, Garfield spotted several familiar-looking figures having dinner.

"Miss Stephenson!" Garfield said when he spotted Margaret.

Margaret looked up and saw Garfield and the gang and smiled.

"Ah, Garfield!" Margaret said as the others accompanying her paused their eating and spotted Garfield. "I take it that you have finished your job in putting a stop to those trouble-making racketeers, eh?"

"Sure did." Garfield said before gesturing towards the gang and added, "With help from my new friends who were visiting from the States."

"Wonderful." Janet spoke as the Murdoch twins rushed over to give Garfield a hug.

The gang all awed at the sight as Garfield rubbed Nicole's hair.

"Is everything alright, Nicole?" Garfield asked.

"Yes, thanks to you." Nicole nodded. "Auntie Margaret and Auntie Jessica both got us new toys and good-looking clothes. Like my dress?"

"You sure look cute in the dress." Garfield smiled.

"Who are those people, Garfield?" Fred asked.

"Ah, allow me to introduce the Stevenson family to you guys." Garfield said as he motioned the family and friends to stand up.

Gesturing at the Stevenson brothers, he said, "Gang, this is George Stevenson and his brother Henry Stevenson. They're second cousins of the late-Bruce Strevenson, whose estate I helped settle two years ago."

Then, moving to the Stephenson sisters and the twins, he continued, "This is Margaret and Jessica Stephenson, who are the Bruce's cousins, and their grandniece Nicole Murdoch and grandnephew Nicolas Murdoch."

Moving to Janet, he then continued, "This is Mrs. Janet Wagner, who's the first cousin of Bruce's late wife."

And finally, at the Brook sisters, he added, "And this is Anita and Barbara Brooks, who were great friends to the Stevenson family."

Garfield then turned to the gang and continued, "And everyone, my new friends will introduce themselves to you."

"Hi, my name is Fred Jones." Fred said as he walked towards the Stevenson brothers.

"Nice meeting you." George said as he shook Fred's hand.

"And my name is Velma Dinkley." Velma added.

"A pleasure meeting you." Anita nodded as she shook her hand.

"Daphne Blake." Daphne introduced herself to the twins. "I like your hair, by the way."

"Thank you." Nicole smiled as Daphne picked her up.

"The name's Rogers." Shaggy said. "Norville Rogers, but please call me Shaggy."

"Will do." Margaret smiled as she shook hands with Shaggy.

"And this is Scooby Doo." Shaggy added as he gestured towards Scooby.

"My, he must've been a cute puppy." Janet said as Nicolas went to pet Scooby.

"Rawww..." Scooby awed as Nicolas petted him.

"So anyways, what's this Bruce Stevenson case you spoke of, Garfield." Daphne asked Garfield.

"Like, you mentioned earlier that you were going to explain the case to us." Shaggy added.

"Oh, it's a long story." Garfield said before proceeding to tell the story.

He told them about how a string of thefts at his school led him to a secret storage room in the school library and how his peers' talking to him about Bruce Stevenson got him interested in the estate settlement case.

He also talked about how a school mate's crucial discovery in the school's grandfather clock led to the unearthing of Bruce Stevenson's last will and testament, which awarded his estate to his more-deserving relatives and friends as opposed to the selfish Ewells, who were disliked by many in town and at school.

**(For more information, please check out my FictionPress story _D4 Garfield and the Secret of the School Library!_ )**

"Wow." Fred remarked after Garfield related the tale. "Sounds like one interesting mystery."

"Indeed." Velma agreed. "And you really deserve a reward for your kindness, Garfield."

"Oh yes." Janet said. "We never did reward Garfield for his kindness and in thanks to his help in the estate settlement."

"Ah, there's no need to reward me." Garfield smiled with a wave of his hand as his cheeks burned. "Being able to help other people out in their problems is already a reward for me, especially when the situation ends with a happy ending."

"True." Daphne nodded. "There's a reason why we never charged for our services after we solved a mystery."

"Indeed." Shaggy said. "And speaking of rewards, like, I think we should reward ourselves to some tasty dinner after all that running around in the fair."

"Ah yes." Garfield said before turning to the Stevensons and added. "I suppose we should let you guys finish your meals."

"No worries." Anita said. "It's good to be able to meet with and chat with someone who's been of great help to us."

"Indeed." Margaret agreed.

Later, as the gang began digging into their dinner, with Shaggy and Scooby surprising nearby restaurant users and Garfield with their large order of food, the Stevenson family made their leaves after paying the bill.

"It's nice meeting with you again, Garfield." George said.

"Hope we see you around." Barbara added.

"Sure thing." Garfield nodded as he shared a hug with Margaret and Janet. "Take care of yourselves."

After the gang waved their goodbyes, they continued eating.

"You guys sure must be really hungry." Garfield said to Shaggy and Scooby when they were waiting for the cheque.

"They're always hungry, Garfield." Velma explained. "I suppose you might be interested in seeing what their monthly grocery bill is like."

"Oh, I can imagine." Garfield said with a shrug. "Though it's also a sign that the restaurant's food is really good."

"It is indeed." Daphne said.

"And I've got a hunch I might have to describe those two the same way George Rector said of Diamond Jim Brady." The restaurant owner, who was by their table, added. "'The best 40 costumers I ever had.'"

"It sure is an accurate way to describe those two, Mr. Sinclair." Garfield nodded as he spoke to the restaurant owner.

* * *

After paying the bill, the gang walked back to Lansdowne Park to retrieve the Mystery Machine.

"It's getting late, gang." Fred said as he checked his watch. "We should head back to our hotel."

"So where are you guys staying at and how long are you staying in Ottawa?" Garfield asked.

"The Lord Elgin Hotel." Daphne said. "And we're staying for the week."

"Ah." Garfield nodded understandingly. "I suppose you guys flew in, or did you take the train from New York?"

"Actually, we took the  _Canadian_ from Vancouver." Fred said. "And we brought our van with us throughout the trip."

"Oh." Garfield arched his eyebrows. "I'm assuming you all live in the West Coast, eh?"

"Yes." Velma nodded. "We live in Coolsville, which is around the Los Angeles area."

"I see." Garfield nodded thoughtfully before he, too, checked his watch. "Anyways, I better head home now. As Fred said, it's getting late."

"Like, it was nice meeting you, Garfield." Shaggy said as he offered his hand. "We sure had a lot of fun, eh?"

"Oh yes indeed." Garfield nodded as he shook Shaggy's offered hand. "Checking out all those rides while chasing those crooks, that was sure some unexpected fun we had while at the fair."

"It will be nice if we can get together again and, perhaps, solve more mysteries." Fred said as he shook hands with Garfield.

"Indeed." Garfield agreed. "One thing for sure is that we don't want the fun to diminish if we were to end up at the wrong end of a firearm."

"Of course." Velma nodded as she shook hands with Garfield. "Or getting into some fine mess like Danger-Prone Daphne does usually."

Garfield paused his lips at the remark before saying, "I suppose, though that's a risk one may have to take during adventures like this."

"True." Daphne nodded as she gave Garfield a hug.

"I suppose we should exchange phone numbers if we want to get together again sometime." Fred suggested.

"Ah, yes." Garfield nodded. "That will be a good idea."

Soon, the group were in front of the Mystery Machine, where Fred and Garfield exchanged telephone numbers. It was also during this time that Garfield took a good look at the van.

"Mystery Machine." Garfield remarked. "Interesting colours, by the way."

"Thanks." Velma smiled. "We painted the van together after a group of friends gave it to us as a gift."

"I see." Garfield nodded. "Anyways, off I go."

"Rice meeting rou." Scooby said as he shook hands (Or rather, paws) with Garfield.

"Likewise, Scooby Doo." Garfield said. "You know, you sure make good company and can make a fierce guard dog who is always loyal to his friends."

"Scooby can be a ham at times." Velma said.

"So I've heard." Garfield said. "But anyways, off I go."

"Hope we see you again sometime, Garfield!" Daphne said as they all waved their goodbyes at Garfield.

"I sure hope so." Garfield nodded as he waved back at them. "In fact, I've got a sneaking suspicion that we might end up crossing paths again with trouble following us wherever we go."

The gang all nodded as they watched Garfield cross Bank Street and reached the streetcar stop, in time for a Route 7 streetcar to arrive.

Watching the PCC streetcar departing from the stop, en route to Carleton University, the gang then proceeded to climb onto the Mystery Machine.

A short while later, the Mystery Machine was driving down Queen Elizabeth Driveway along the west coast of the Rideau Canal.

As the van drives further along towards the horizon, the scene shifts upwards to reveal the setting sun in the background and the red-orange sky colours reflecting in the waters of the Rideau Canal.

* * *

**And so ends the gang's first adventure in Canada, folks!**

**The adventures of the gang continues in _D4 SDWAY: Jeepers, it's the Creeper!_**

**Please read and review!**


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